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Published bvLEE & SHEPARD, Huston
MEMOIR
TIMOTHY GILBERT.
BY
JUSTIN D. FULTON.
"THE GRANDEST ABOLITIONIST IN BOSTON."
A Slave-hunter's Tribute.
BOSTON :
LEE AND SHEPARD.
1S66.
i THE LIBRARY
OF CONORBM
WASHINGTON
5-
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
JUSTIN D. FULTON,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
^ 3 2 r~J
TERBOTTPED AT TIIK
8TEEEOTTPE FOUNDRY,
No. 4 Spring Lane.
by John Wilson and Son.
TO THE
CHURCH AND CONGREGATION
WORSHIPPING IN TREMONT TEMPLE,
This Volume
is
RESPECTFULLY, GRATEFULLY, AND AFFECTIONATELY
DEDICATED,
BY THEIR PASTOR.
PREFACE.
The life of Timothy Gilbert, for half a cen-
tury conspicuously identified with anti-slavery move-
ments in the church and in the world, furnishes
abundant testimony that the disciples of Christ have
led the way in producing and carrying forward that
great moral revolution which has disinthralled a con-
tinent. Redeemed bondmen will find in this life facts
and incidents of permanent value, because it is to the
courage and fidelity of such men, who leaped straight
into the heart of the conflict, whose steel rang true
upon the flint of the rebellion, and brought out the
fire which melted their chains, that they are indebted
for all that distinguishes the present from the past,
and makes America, for the first time, " the home
of the brave, and the land of the free," instead of
the land of the free, and the home of the slave.
The relation sustained by the subject of this Me-
moir to the revivals that have characterized the pres-
ent century, which, culminating in Boston, can be
best studied from his stand-point, will invite the
(5)
6 PREFACE.
Christian and the student to drink from this fresh
fountain of inspiration and hope.
The work performed by Deacon Gilbert in build-
ing Tremont Temple, and in making it an attractive
sanctuary where the masses may, from week to week,
listen to the gospel of Christ, should give the story of
such a life a welcome wherever an interest is felt in
the establishment of a " Stranger's Sabbath Home,"
in the centre of a great city. That life will be found
full of incentive to self-sacrifice and noble deeds.
The subject of it lived and wrought for God, and his
works do praise him.
The author would express his gratitude to G. W.
Chipman, J. W. Converse, and Cyrus Carpenter, Esqs.,
who, from the first, have manifested the heartiest
sympathy for the work to which Deacon Gilbert con-
secrated his life. Mr. Chipman supplied the excellent
likeness of his life-long friend, Mr. Converse furnished
the faithful picture of Tremont Temple, — Deacon
Gilbert's fittest monument, — and Mr. Carpenter has,
from the first, rendered valuable aid in securing the
publication of this Memoir.
The author has been to the book what the scaf-
folding is to the building. He cheerfully steps aside,
now that his work is done, that the reader may see
the man.
CONTENTS,
CHAPTER I.
Page
Introduction.
CHAPTER II.
His Birth, Childhood, and Youth. — Conversion 15
CHAPTER III.
His Manner of Life 20
CHAPTER IV.
His Marriage. — The Tremont Temple Enterprise. -— Nathaniel
Colver 49
CHAPTER V.
Rev. Jacob Knapp. — The Baptist Cause in Boston in 1840. — The
Character of the Evangelist, and his Work in New Bedford,
Providence, and Boston. — Letter from Mr. Knapp, showing the
Part borne in the Work by Mr. Gilbert 67
CHAPTER VI.
Anti-Slavery Agitation in the Church. — The Proceedings of the
Mission Board at Baltimore. — Exciting Discussion. — Letter
of Baron Stow. — Organization of the Provisional Committee. —
Mr. Gilbert Treasurer 87
(7)
8 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
Mr. Gilbert's Letter-Book. — Reflections concerning the Duty of
Christian Men and Churches to the Slave absorb his Thoughts,
and flame out from his Correspondence. — The Provisional
Committee at Work. — Correspondence with Missionaries and
others. — Drs. Fuller and Wayland on Slavery. — Dr. Hague's
Review 112
CHAPTER VIII.
Dedication of Tremont Temple. — The Death of Mrs. Gilbert. —
Second Marriage of Mr. Gilbert. — Trip to Europe, — Conse-
cration of his Property to the Cause of Christ. — Resignation
of the Presidency of the Boylston Bank 157
CHAPTER IX.
Causes which led to the Resignation of Rev. N. Colver. — Mr.
Gilbert's Character in a new Light. — Defects of Extempora-
neous Preaching. — His Views concerning Salary, and Study,
and Visiting 176
CHAPTER X.
Resignation of Rev. Nathaniel Colver. —Tremont Temple burnt.
— A Description of the New Temple. — Deacon Gilbert's View
of the Enterprise 186
CHAPTER XI.
The Tremont Temple Enterprise imperilled. — The Property
offered for Sale. — The Organization of the Evangelical Bap-
tist Benevolent and Missionary Society. *— The Sky clearing.
— Mr. Gilbert's Hopes brightening. — Letter of Rev. D. C.
Eddy, D. D " 207
CHAPTER XII.
Personal Recollections 219
CHAPTER XIII.
Mr. Gilbert's Death. — Notices of the Deceased. — His Funeral. 245
MEMOIR
OF
TIMOTHY GILBERT.
CHAPTER I,
INTRODUCTION.
The story is told of Oliver Cromwell, that once
upon a time, while sitting for his picture, the artist
tried to conceal a scar upon his brow. The hero,
noticing it, chided the painter, saying, "Paint me as
I am" The artist complied with the request, but so
managed it that he placed Cromwell in a meditative
position, sitting with his head resting upon his hand,
and his forefinger concealing the scar. We shall let
Timothy Gilbert sit upright. Not believing in perfect
characters, nor in model lives, but rather in one per-
fect character, and in one model life, which closed its
testimony on earth with the "It is finished" of Cal-
vary, we shall try and present the subject of this
Memoir as he lived at home, worked in the shop,
toiled in the church, and battled for his faith in man
and his faith in God in the midst of an opposing
I * (9)
IO MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
world and a sleeping- chinch. His life deserves to be
written, because it refutes the infidel utterance that
there is something incompatible with a faith in Christ
and a devotion to the highest interests of humanity.
Horace Mann, Theodore Parker, and others like
them, never tired of declaring that to help humanity
men must break loose from creeds. Here is a man
that clung to his faith in Christ, in the Bible, in the
rule of faith and practice adopted by his denomina-
tion in Jerusalem, where Peter preached and John was
bishop, and which has characterized them through all
the intervening centuries, and now distinguishes them
in all lands and climes, and yet he won from a slave-
hunter the title of being the Grandest Abolitionist in
Bosto?i.
His identification with the great revivals of 1841,
and with efforts calculated to secure the salvation of
souls, links his name to the religious history of Boston.
His efforts in behalf of the apprentices and mechanics
deprived of a place of worship, and his watchfulness,
that enabled him to seize the golden opportunity,
when, because of the wonderful work of grace going
on in Boston during the winter of 1841-2, the lessees
of Tremont Theatre lost some ten thousand dollars,
compelling the holders of the property to throw it upon
the market, he purchased it, and by the aid of others,
converted it into a free place of public worship, in
which all the seats on the Sabbath are kept free to
every person, without distinction, entitle him to the
homage paid to public virtue and private worth.
On the first Sabbath of July, 1865, while the Union
Temple Church were celebrating the Lord's Supper,
INTRODUCTION. 1 1
Deacon Timothy Gilbert, being absent for the first
time, selected from Philippians, second chapter, from
the fourteenth to the sixteenth verses inclusive, this
message, which he asked his pastor to carry to them
as a humble expression of his desire concerning
them : " Do all without murmurings and disputings,
that ye may be blameless and simple, children of
God, unreproachable in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation, among whom ye shine as do the
heavenly lights in the world, holding forth the word
of life for a ground of glorying to me at the day of
Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain."
The exhortation, " Do all without murmurings and
disputings," expressed in words the principle that ruled
his life. Little did" I know of the trials that bent his
frame and that ploughed deep furrows in his heart.
He was a silent sufferer. To the scenes through
which he had passed, and the labors he had performed,
he seldom made reference. Now that he has gone, and
that I have turned over the pages of his memoranda,
I see that his desire to be simple, unreproachable in
the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, and
to shine as do the heavenly lights in the world, his
anxiety to hold forth the word of life as a ground of
glorying, rather than to talk of what he had purposed
and achieved, made him the quiet and unpretentious
man, who lived and wrought for God, and passed on
to his reward.
A Christian's life is worthy of prayerful consider-
ation and of profound study. It is a volume, the
pages of whose imperishable record bear inscriptions
wrought by the finger of God. It opens into the
I J Ml.MOlK OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
hidden mysteries of the world's great life. In it we
behold the motive power that influenced, shaped, and
controlled society. It opens into a home, and reveals
to us God's model idea of a father, of a husband or
friend. In it we see the thread of an almighty pur-
pose entering the woof of events, and giving coloring
and character to the distinguishing features of an
epoch. It opens into a church, Christ's great work-
shop : it leads you into the prayer circle, to the sanc-
tuary among the poor and among the influential, and
becomes a finite cog fitting into the wheel of an
infinite plan, and touching the machinery of society,
which was set in motion for the glory of God and the.
good of man. Flowing into political circles, it resem-
bles a clear mountain stream, cleansing and purifying
all with which it comes in contact. It never can be
thoroughly comprehended or understood. It is the
incarnation of God's purpose among men. The opin-
ions uttered, and the efforts made, help to establish
justice, and to construct the healthy organisms of an
age. It resembles a productive mine. There is little
seen upon the surface ; but when you reach the sphere
of his labor, you become amazed at the extent of the
area blessed by his love and cultured by his care.
If we enter the home of Timothy Gilbert, and be-
hold him presiding over his table, giving a hospitable
welcome to strangers, making ministers and mission-
aries, bondmen and freemen, feel that his house was
Christ's house, and that he was acting as the steward
of his Master; into the church, and behold him ever
ready to bear his burden, and ever yielding to the
yoke, but never forward, never ostentatious; into the
INTRODUCTION. 13
political world, and see how modestly and firmly he
bore himself, — we shall see that it was never his pur-
pose to occupy a conspicuous position in the eye of
men, yet that it was his grand aim to hold an honora-
ble, though a humble place, in the eye of God.
He had no aspirations for office. When the Liberty
Party was weak, he accepted nominations ; when it
became strong, he rejected proffers and posts of honor.
He had no desire to be considered a leader even in
commercial circles. He desired " to do justly, to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with his God ; " "to shine
as do the heavenly lights in the world."
That made him what he was as a mechanic, as an
employer, as a manufacturer, as an abolitionist, as a
politician, as a deacon. That made him consecrate
his time, talents, and property to the furtherance of
the various interests committed to his care. That
made him the champion of the oppressed, the friend
of the poor, and the benefactor of the young. Write
up such a life, and you embody in enduring shape a
record which becomes the distinguishing feature of an
epoch.
It may truly be said of him that he comprehended
the era in which he lived. He had a logical mind,
and could follow premises to their legitimate results.
Hence he was never behind, but generally in advance
of, his age.
He foresaw the result of the anti-slavery contest,
and predicted it, and acted up to his convictions.
When General Ulysses S.- Grant permitted General
Robert E. Lee to surrender the forces of the Confed-
eracy in a manner that relieved him, and the soldiers
1 4 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
he led, from the humiliation of a general, open, and
formal laying down of the arms of rebellion, he fore-
trouble, and at once declared, "Those men will not
believe they are conquered." When the air was full
ie paeans of victory, his eye detected the dangers
which followed in the wake of northern instead of
southern conciliation. Not fully believing in the
president concerning reconstruction, and wholly disa-
ing with him in regard to negro suffrage, he pre-
pared with great care a statement of the case as he
viewed it. and sent it to the president, feeling that
in this way alone could he discharge his duty. His
rule being, " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it
with thy might," he never postponed until to-morrow
what should be done to-day, and as a result, achieved
Titanic tasks, and accomplished important results.
Desiring to be, not a leader, but a motive power and
a propelling force, he worked through others, and de-
lighted to hold up the hands of those who, battled for
the truth, and while glorying in results, shunned
fame.
i5
CHAPTER II.
HIS BIRTH, CHILDHOOD, AND YOUTH — CONVERSION.
Timothy Gilbert was born in Enfield, Mass.,
January 5, 1797. His father, Timothy Gilbert, was
born in Hardwick, Mass., March 14, 1772. Fear
Shaw, his mother, was born at Middleboro', Mass.,
July 3, 1768; and they were married in Greenwich,
now Enfield, September 22, 1794.
The father died at Enfield, May 24, 1838, and was
buried in the rear of the meeting-house ; and his good
wife Fear died January 14, 1858, and was buried by
his side.
Timothy was the eldest son and second child of a
family of seven children, consisting of four sons and
three daughters. His parents, though but little known
to the world, were esteemed and respected by their
neighbors. His father was a farmer in moderate cir-
cumstances, and in this employment Timothy was
engaged until the year 181 8, when he came to Boston
at the age of twenty-one. He early manifested a taste
for mechanism. There was music in the whir of the
factory wheels driven by the River " Swift," which is
formed by the junction of two turbulent streams,
which in their union are a source of wealth, and
present an additional attraction to the varied beauties
of the town.
MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Eiracter, when a boy. was so sedate, and
his hear; ave, that he won the appellation of
.. hile vet in his teens. . He was fond of books,
than many of his age. In
temperament he resembled his mother. It has been
frequently remarked that man is what woman makes
him, her influence, primarily upon his infancy, and
wards upon his maturity, being so far superior to
i -ther. that he takes his moral shape directly or
indirectly from her. When women are gentle, pure,
and intelligent, their children grow up honest, brave,
and thoughtful ; when they are passionate, unchaste,
and frivolous, the men whom they rear are lawless,
animal, and superficial. The course, too, of the gen-
erations, in either case, is to grow noble and more
courageous, or to fall away towards barbarism. In a
word, one tends to spiritual refinement, the other to
sensual debasement. This being true, the chaste, vir-
tuous, pure, brave, and thoughtful character of the son
Ly attributable to her, whose influence over
him was ever recognized as a blessed boon from God.
His Liters to his mother breathe a spirit of filial devo-
that speaks volumes in praise of the heart of her
He watched her health, ministered to her hap-
piness, and never was more happy than when he had
her with him in his own house. The portraits of his
parents hung on his parlor walls. He honored them,
obtained the promised blessing.
turally impulsive, and very correct in all he did,
it troubled him when those connected with him were
careless in their habits, or irregular in their lives.
When his mind became interested in the subject of
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH CONVERSION. I 7
religion, he was a long time struggling with the cor-
ruptions of his own heart. His will was perverse and
terribly unyielding. At last grace triumphed, and he
became a little child at the feet of Jesus. No sooner
did he obtain the liberty of the gospel than he had
great peace and great love for the souls of others.
When converted he was surrounded by Congrega-
tionalists. The study of the New Testament made a
Baptist of him. That was enough. Opposition was
wasted on him. A Thus saith the Lord was better
than a Thus saith a creed or a minister. There was
no Baptist church nearer than three and a half miles,
in Belchertown. That church became his home. On
January 5, 181 7, he was baptized by Rev. David
Pease, in the river covered with drift ice, while around
him gathered the church, singing, — '
"Christians, if your hearts are warm,
Ice and snow will do no harm ; "
after which he walked more than half a mile with-
out a change of garments, and without inconvenience.
On the last day of December, 1818, he came to
Boston, and went to work, as an apprentice cabinet-
maker, with Levi Ruggles, and after various changes,
learned the piano-forte business of Mr. John Osborn,
and in time formed a partnership with Mr. E. R.
Currier. At the dissolution of the partnership, he
became the head of the concern, and maintained the
position, through many vicissitudes of fortune, up to
the time of his death.
Boston, when he entered it a stranger, had but
forty thousand inhabitants. There were three Baptist
iS MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
churches. Rev. James M. Winchell was pastor of
the First. Rev. Thomas Baldwin of the Second, and
Rev. Daniel Sharp of the Third.
Uniting with the last-named church, he carried into
the Sabbath school and prayer meeting the idiosyn-
crasies that characterized him through life.
The influence of Dr. Sharp upon him was of a
marked character. It was a primitive period in
American history. The missionary enterprise had
taken possession of the minds of Christians. The
storv of Carev's success, of Judson's conversion, the
need of cooperation on the part of the American
church, the formation of the Massachusetts Baptist
Missionary Society, of the Northern Baptist Educa-
tion Society, the establishment of colleges and churches,
were facts which filled the mind and engaged the
thought of that polished and courtly preacher, who
delighted in the pulpit to dwell upon the Christian
graces, and whose outward life was characterized by
unsullied purity and a sublime devotion to every good
work. Nathaniel Ripley Cobb, the Christian mer-
chant, was a member of the church when he joined it.
Cobb was a year his senior in birth and in baptism,
lie was born near Portland, Me., November 3, 1798,
was baptized in May, 1818, and died May 22, 1834,
when but thirty-six years of age, after having won a
noble position in Boston.
On September 30, 1843, O. S. Fowler, the celebrated
phrenologist, gave this description of Mr. Gilbert's char-
acter : ;' lie is noted for goodness and desire for bene-
fiting mankind. He would do it by making them good
first, and by that means making them happy. The
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH CONVERSION. 1 9
object of his life is to make men happy, and not one
man in a thousand has a larger organ of benevolence.
He is a stanch, stable man, that is a pillar in society
— one to be depended upon. He pursues his uniform
course with dignity, respects himself, and is respected.
He has more thoughts and ideas than words to express
them. Is fond of the beautiful. Is good at planning
and setting others to work. Would be a deacon in a
church and a director in a bank, and has great tact
in contriving ways and means for accomplishing his
objects. Is plain, but hospitable, and would be likely
to have many visitors, and an extensive circle of
friends. Gives advice, and good advice ; is pleased
with the approbation of friends ; is strictly honest ;
dislikes to be in debt. I think he could hardly help
being an abolitionist and a leader in reforms, Sabbath
schools, and wherever he can do the most good. Will
believe nothing without proof; must see the reason,
the law, involved. Would have made a good clergy-
man. He stands by the right. Would speak the
truth at the cannon's mouth. Conscientiousness is
one of his principal organs." Those who knew him
can recognize the correctness of the portraiture. He
was as fearless and honest as he was brave.
20
CHAPTER III.
HIS MANNER OF LIFE.
Happy New Year greeted the ear of Timothy Gil-
bert, on January i, 1819, the morning after his arrival
in Boston.
He was a stranger. He loved his home, he idolized
his mother, and he felt that sensation of loneliness
which comes to the heart when the anchor is lifted
and the sails are spread, and the boat in which our
hopes are embarked pushes out upon the unexplored
sea of the future, and the light of home no longer
greets the view. He was poor, but brave. No young
man ever began life under more straitened circum-
stances ; none ever grasped the difficulties of the situa-
tion with a braver purpose. We find him early seek-
ing employment. How he attempted and failed, tried
again and succeeded, is remembered by his friends,
lie entered the shop of Levi Ruggles to learn the
cabinet business. He has good strong hands, an eye
to the main chance and single to the glory of God, an
honest heart, and good health. In learning his trade
lie is animated by a purpose that takes in a wide and
an ambitious range. He* is an apprentice. He ex-
pects to be an employer ; hence he studies principles
as well as the cunning of handcraft. He dives into
the secrets of success, into the questions of profit and
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 21
loss. Having mastered the cabinet business, he turns
to the piano trade, and strikes the thread of his destiny,
which, followed, leads to fortune and fame. His heart
is full of musical emotions and sweet harmonies, and
his ear is attuned to melody. Here, in like manner, he
studies all parts of the business, and is never content
while anything remains to be learned. He is not a
busybody. He is not meddlesome. He talks little,
and thinks a great deal. He tries to increase in
knowledge more and more, and so studies to be quiet,
and to do his own business, and to work with his own
hands, as the apostle commands, that he may walk
honestly toward them who are without, and that he
may lack nothing. The Bible is the rule of his faith
and practice. In the church he has a place, and he is
ever in it. In the Sabbath school he feels that he has
duties to discharge, and he meets his trusts in a manly
way. His seat in the sanctuary is always filled. His
pastor comes to know him, and to lean upon him.
Happy pastor, surrounded by men like Cobb, Gilbert,
Farwell, and a host of others ! — men of brain, of
heart, and piety.
Naturally enough and without pushing, E. R. Cur-
rier wants a partner. He does not need money so
much as he needs a man. He has heard of that quiet,
thrifty mechanic. He seeks him out, or is sought out,
and a partnership is formed, and young Gilbert, who
on the ist of January, 1819, came to Boston a stranger,
is now a partner in business, and has use for all he has
acquired, and a sphere in which he may use his in-
ventive faculty to his satisfaction. In less than five
years he marries a wife, secures a home, erects a
HEMOIB OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Family altar, and becomes tlie centre of an influence,
which, like the ripple formed by the falling pebble,
shall widen in its circumference until it writes its
►rd on distant shores.
Settled in business, he was brought into contact
with new circles of society and fresh currents of in-
fluence. He took positions. He brought all ques-
s to the light of revealed truth, and judged them
by the standards furnished by God himself. This
made him set in opinion. It was a characteristic of
his, when, after long reflection and prayer, he reached
a conclusion he believed it to be the mind of God. It
was this conviction that made him determined, and at
times overbearing. Instances abound when it was
clear he was mistaken in judgment. He was fallible,
like others, and often, perhaps, mistook inclination for
duty, and desire for conviction. He was not tolerant,
nor patient, nor pliable. It is related by an individual
who was then a youth, and is now a man of promi-
nence, that he was sought out by Mr. Gilbert, and in-
vited to obtain an education at his expense. He began
his course, and was accomplishing the work, when, in
consequence of his not being up to his benefactor in
anti-slavery convictions, he was told of the disappoint-
ment his conduct had produced, and informed that, in
accordance with a resolution to give money to such
purposes and in such channels that it should tell upon
the interests of the bondmen, he should be compelled
v, forego in part the amount allowed him. The proud-
ited youth resented the indignity, gave up his
course and the ministry. In this Mr. Gilbert made a
mistake. lie saw it afterwards, and regretted it. Yet
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 23
this characteristic was a blessing instead of a bane.
He loved the truth, and delighted to follow its guid-
ance. He erred in judgment at times, because he was
a man. Truth pleased and charmed him. It begot
principles within his nature, and those principles ruled
him. Like trees planted in the earth, they absorbed
the nutriment which came in their way. They grew.
Hence, to influence him, truth must range itself behind
these well-established principles. He knew that he
could not do everything. He knew that he could
accomplish some one thing. To this he bent his
energies.
This made him take certain advanced positions. In
looking about him, he saw that the churches were
asleep in regard to the woes inflicted upon the race
by slavery and intemperance. Believing that " Im-
manuel " — God with us — is with us to save us, he
grasped the truth that " God is with us to save us by
being God for us and God in us." On the one hand,
God for us by taking the place of the sinner ; and on
the other hand, God in us by uniting himself to the
sinner. The power of the gospel consists in this : that
it not only reveals God's work for us when he took
our place in the person of his Son, bore our punish-
ment upon the cross, so that we might go free, but also
God's work in us when he unites himself to us in the
person of his Spirit, to renew and purify our hearts by
the communication of his own love and righteousness.
God for us ! That convinces us of our sin ; that takes
away our fear. God in us ! That assures us that
the w^ork once begun will be completed by the feeding
of our inward life from his own divine fountains.
>IR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
-. and not the force of an unconquerable will, made
him E aliant, and invincible in his determina-
1 forward the cause of Christ as the hope of
God was in him, he was in God.
This made him thoughtful and suggestive. It was
a pl< ! r him to live in sympathy with public
men. Hi stions were not whims born in a mo-
ment, and to be swept aside by a breath. When he
mentioned a subject and proposed a line of policy, it
the result of diligent and wise thinking. If his"
view made little or no impression when first mentioned.
he would bide his time ; but the sun was no more
sure to rise than he was to bring the idea up in another
shape : and even if it should be scouted and ignored.
believing in it himself, he would consecrate himself to
its furtherance and diffusion. This made him persist-
ent and unyielding at times to an unpleasant degree.
but it pushed him on in his beaten path, and made him
the pioneer of important movements and reforms.
Hi* manner of life as an employer and business man
characterized by idiosyncrasies peculiarly his own.
lie was kind, but exacting. He had ways of his own
in transacting business, and disliked to be jostled by
the ways of the world. He would have lived more
pleasantly in London than in Boston, in England than
in America. He depended for success not upon tin-
and show, but upon substance and merit. His
piano- were well made, and, as was frequently stated,
trength of tone, finish, and durable manu-
factui are unsurpassed." He was especially
of fan lily music, and accordinglv took sincere
in introducing th lian Attachment,"
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 25
combining the power of the organ with the sweetness
of the piano. The yEolian Attachment, invented by
Coleman, is a wind instrument of the softest and most
delicate tones, and is so united to the piano-forte that
the same key-board controls both instruments, so that
either one of the two instruments may be used, or both
together, blending in delightful and undistinguishable
harmony. Of this instrument Mr. Gilbert was very
fond ; and indeed it is difficult to conceive of an instru-
ment better adapted to accompany and assist the hu-
man voice, or to express the deepest emotions and sweet-
est experiences of the human heart. At the family
altar the hymn books were passed around, and all sang.
In singing he worshipped, as well as in reading and
prayer. In selling instruments he would never dis-
guise a fault or press a virtue. His pianos were great
favorites in the South. They were easily kept in tune,
and their music was soft and pleasant to the ear. He
was known in his business to be an abolitionist, and
would never compromise principle to secure favor. A
North Carolinian, having purchased and paid for a pia-
no, turned upon him, and said, " Mr. Gilbert, you are
an abolitionist." " I am." " That money is the product
of slavery." " Well," said the fearless soul, " I guess
it won't help slavery while in my possession." " But
are you not principled against receiving it?" " No ;. I
hate slaveiy, not the money." " That is honest," said
the tall Carolinian, and shaking hands, went his way,
impressed by the bearing of the fearless deacon. His
manner of life as a politician is known to but few.
He had no aspirations for office. But he loved work,
and was glad of influence.
2
MBMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Early in life he came to believe in human freedom.
It resulted from his faith in Christ, the Saviour of man-
kind. The tie that bound him to God, linked him to
the race. He regarded the cross of Christ as the
standard of hope, and the gospel of Christ, preached
and practised, as the power of God unto the salvation
of men. The roar of that terrible tempest which came
near levelling the superstructures of hope had been but
faintly heard, when Timothy Gilbert, in the prime and
Bush of a young and vigorous manhood, consecrated
himself to the cause of the down-trodden slave. Hav-
ing made up his mind that slavery was the " sum of
all villanies," that it was the violation of God's law
written in Bibles and in the constitution of human
nature, that the oppressed needed help to break the
oppressors' yoke, he resolved to lend a helping hand.
The idea took deep root in his nature. It did not
ruin him, as it ruined thousands. It did not make an
infidel of him, and cause him to revile the church and
revile the ministry. He did not deny the divinity of
Christ, because he contended for the humanity of the
negro. lie followed Christ, and worked for man.
He accepted the truth, and gave it liberty to influence
his life. It did influence that life. At times it ruled
him, and made him a terror to evil doers, and a praise
to them who do well. Checked and held back by
timid and conservative friends, it swelled within him
like a mountain torrent. But he gave bounds to the
throbbing emotion, and mastered the indignation that
burned like a lire within, and walked firmly if quietly,
sternly if peacefully.
Review a few facts. Believing that the negro should
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 2>]
be treated as a man, he invited one to take a seat
beside him in his pew. It created talk. It made him
odious. The pastor did not approve it, brethren did
not like it. He persisted in two things. First, in his
right to treat the negro as a man and a friend.
Second, in his right to his own seat in the house of
God. The excitement produced an unlooked-for
result. It made him feel the importance of a free-
seated house of worship. The seedling was planted.
In the course of time he joined the Federal Street
church, having been assured that there would be no
objections to his taking into his seat any whom he
might desire. It may perhaps be stated as a fact, that
had it not been for this discussion, and for his subse-
quent experience in obtaining seats for the young
mechanics about him, the purpose to build Tremont
Temple had never been formed.
He came to Boston in 1 819. It was a wonderful
year. Then began the anti-slavery agitation in Con-
gress. It will be remembered that previous to the
year 1819, the admissions to the Union had been of a
slaveholding and non-slaveholding state alternately.
As Alabama was to come in as a slave state, it was
claimed that Missouri should come in as a non-slave
state.
The slaveholders resisted, and claimed that the pro-
vision of the treaty ceding Louisiana territory to the
Union carried with it the right to hold colored men
as property.
State sovereignty lifted its hydra heads, and con-
tended that Congress could not interfere with slave-
holding without infringing state rights. The restric-
j\ MKMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
tionists refused to admit that to hold slaves was any
right oi the citizens of the United States. They went
on to argue that as slavery was an enormous evil,
totally contrary to the principles of the American
rnment, for Congress to admit it, when it had the
power of exclusion, would be at once a gross derelic-
tion of principles, and a sacrifice of the interests of
labor and laboring men to those of the comparatively
small and much less meritorious class of slaveholders.
It is not difficult to imagine the effect of words like
these upon the heart and mind of the young mechanic.
lli— soul .was stirred. He grasped the central truth,
and clung to it for more than forty years, through evil
as well as through good report.
The history of the rise and progress of abolition in
the United States waits to be written. The principles
that underlie the movement are as old as God, and
run parallel with the progress of the race. Wherever
the gospel has exerted its influence, slavery has been
felt to be a sin. In our revolutionary struggle, the
claims of human nature were asserted. General
Gates, the hero of Saratoga, emancipated his slaves
in 1780. In the papers preserved by Mr. Gilbert are
records of emancipation movements and abolition
meetings, beginning with the year 1783, when, in
Woodbridge, Middlesex County, N. J., on the 4th
of Jul\-, the first anniversary of our independence
after the revolutionary war, an abolition meeting was
held, at which time a Dr. Bloomfield emancipated
fourteen slaves. The scene must have been impres-
sive. Great preparations had been made, and an
immense concourse of people had assembled. A
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 29
platform was erected just above the heads of the
spectators, and at a given signal the doctor, followed
by his slaves, seven on the right and seven on the
left hand, mounted the platform and addressed the mul-
titude on the subject of slavery and its evils, and in
conclusion said, " As a nation we are free and inde-
pendent : all men are born equal, and why should
these, my fellow-citizens, my equals, be held in bond-
age ? From this day they are emancipated ; and I
here declare them free and absolved from all servitude
to me or my posterity." Then calling up one ad-
vanced in years, he said, " Hector, whenever you
become too old or infirm to support yourself, you are
entitled to your maintenance from me or my property.
How long do you suppose it will be before you will
require maintenance? Hector held up his left hand,
and with his right drew a line across the middle joints
of his fingers, saying, " Never, never, massa, so long
as any of these fingers remain below the joints."
Then turning to the audience, the doctor remarked,
" There, fellow-citizens, you see that liberty is as dear
to the man of color as to you or me." The air now
rang with shouts of applause, and thus the scene
ended. Such incidents charmed him. He felt that
they were types of great possibilities. He was proud
to recall to the recollection of men who were fond of
calling abolitionists fanatics, that Abolition Societies
were formed as early as 1774, and that John Jay,
Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and Ben-
jamin Rush occupied prominent positions in them.
.He recognized Washington as an abolitionist, and
took pleasure in recounting the triumphs of the party
}Q MBMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
o[ freedom. Yet even here his glorying was linked
to the cause oi Christ. He acknowledged with pleas-
ure the obligations of the country to Benjamin Lun-
ch, horn in Sussex County, N. J., who consecrated
himself to the service of the negro, and labored to
establish Abolition Societies as early as 1815, and who,
after incredible hardships and privations, came to Bos-
tun, and had the honor of awakening a passion for the
cause of freedom in the breast of William Lloyd
Garrison, who, born in Newburyport, Mass., in 1805,
was then, at the age of twenty-three, editor of the Na-
tional Philanthropist, an organ of the temperance
movement. It was, however, his boast that while Mr.
Garrison learned the value of human freedom, the
worth of a human soul, though enshrined in a dark
setting, he and William Crane, of Baltimore, and Clark-
son and Wilberforce, learned the same glorious truth
from the spirit inculcated by the gospel of Christ.
The supposition widely prevails that freedom
has been obtained for the enslaved in spite of the
church. It is a groundless supposition. The church
has led the way. Christians in this nineteenth century
have made the age in which they live glorious, be-
cause of what God has wrought through them and by
them. The history of the triumphs of this principle
is not half written, when the exploits of the so-called
Liberty party are chronicled. Much is said against
the church, and little is said against any one outside
of the church ; just as much is said against Christians,
and little is said against infidels, not because Chris-
tians or the church are worse than infidels or world-
lings, but because so much more is expected of those
who profess a love for and an allegiance to Christ.
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 3 1
On the hill-top of this century, as of others, pos-
terity will behold the face of some prominent Chris-
tian, who, through evil report and good report, has
battled for the rights of man and the glory of God.
If the church, as a body, has been slow to take hold of
reformatory measures, it will be seen that the tardiness
has not been in consequence of a want of a love for
man, but from an apprehension that such a course of
procedure would distract attention and imperil the
interests of souls. In the great convocations of the
Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodist churches, it is
not true that those who resisted slavery agitations
loved slavery or believed in it. They felt that the
church and the societies to which they belonged were
under obligations to render unto God the things which
belonged to God. If this made them slow to render
unto Caesar the things which belonged to Caesar, it is
pleasant to discover that the fear arose, not because
of a love for Caesar, but for Christ.
The lives of Timothy Gilbert, Nathaniel Colver,
William Crane, Jacob Knapp, Elon Galusha, and a
host of others, prove that the interests of bondmen found
advocates in the church as fearless, as uncompromis-
ing, as valiant as ever were found in the ranks of re-
formers. We do not wish to disparage the efforts
made by Liberals and so-called infidels. They have
wrought well if not wisely ; but we do contend that a
comparison made in the church with the efforts made
outside of it, will serve to reflect lasting honor upon
the church as an agency of good even in promoting
the temporal and political advancement of mankind.
Space will not permit extended sketches of contem-
3-
MKMOlll OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
poraries ; but a reference to them is essential to this
record o\~ a life which identified itself with the benef-
icent and heroic in the church and in the world. It
is well to remember that seven years before Timothy
Gilbert came to Boston, William Crane, born in New-
ark. X. J.. 1790, went to Richmond, Va., where, in
1815, the same year that Lundy formed an Abolition
Society, he with others founded the African Mission-
ary Society, with a view solely to missions in Africa.
In the same year he established a night school, where,
for three nights in the week, colored people were
taught to read and write. Lott Cary, the pioneer
missionary to Africa, received a large part of his
education here, and was fitted for his responsible
work in the land of his fathers and among the neg-
lected people of his own race.
The influence of Isaac T. Hopper's life in Philadel-
phia and Xew York had much to do in giving shape
and character to the spirit of reform. Born in New
Jersey in 1771? ne j°ined the Society of Friends, early
removed to Philadelphia, and became prominent as
the friend of the slave. It is a little singular that
Xew Jersey, which in politics has ever been on the
pro-slavery side, should have furnished a birthplace to
so many advocates of freedom. The story of Mr.
Hopper's life has been written by L. Maria Child.
The incidents of that life in detached portions have
for more than a half a century occupied their share
of public attention. We can remember the effect of
those accredited talcs, and can easily imagine the in-
fluence they exerted upon the heart and mind of the
youthful mechanic, alive to the interests of the cause
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 33
of freedom. A slave comes by night to his unpre-
tending home, and he relates the story of his escape,
of his being discovered in the City of Brotherly Love,
and of what Friend Hopper did for him. As a speci-
men, take this treasured record of "Mary Halliday,"
a very light mulatto girl, in the service of a Mr. Fran-
cis, a slave of a Mrs. Sears, of Maryland.
She was discovered. Mrs. Sears claimed her. Mr.
Francis, valuing her services, asks Mr. Hopper to try
and purchase her for three hundred and fifty dollars.
Mrs. Sears refuses to sell, and declares her purpose to
take her back to Maryland, and to make an example
of her.
"I hope thou wilt find thyself disappointed," replies
Friend Hopper. Finding himself beaten there, and
disappointed in the result, he resolved to carry the
case to a higher court. For that purpose he obtained
a writ " de homine reftlegiando" and when the suita-
ble occasion arrived he accompanied Mary Halliday
to the mayor's office with a deputy sheriff to serve the
writ. When the trial came on he urged the insuf-
ficiency of proof brought by the claimant. The mayor
replied in a peremptory tone, " I have already de-
cided that matter. I shall deliver the slave to her
mistress." Friend Hopper gave the sheriff the signal
to serve the writ. He was a novice in the business,
but, laying his hand upon her shoulder, said, " By
virtue of this writ I replevin this woman and deliver
her to Mr. Hopper." Her protector immediately bade
Mary go home with him. Her mistress, seizing her
arm, said, " She shall not go." The mayor was con-
founded and perplexed, and inquired what the writ
34 MOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
[t is a l komtne replegiandoj replied Friend
%* I don't un what that means." "It is none
the less powerful on that account It has taken the
woman out of thy power, and delivered her to another
tribunal." The mayor was puzzled, but told Mrs.
S< s to let her go. She inquired. "What am I to
eplied. •• Ask Mr. Hopper. His laws are
above mine. I thought I knew something about the
business, but it seems I don't." And so Mary in the
end got fa
.V slave accompanies his master — longs for free-
dom— is told to keep quiet six months — does so —
wins his freedom after a frightful contest with his
master. These stories filled the air.
There was something exciting in the hunt. Who
has not seen the victim, with the fresh brand on arm
and cheek, creep into the room, be fed and housed, and
They came singly, and in companies of
two. three, and four, to the house of Timothy Gilbert.
These stories excited attention. This spirit of receiv-
ing slaves became infectious. Slaveholders came
North after their chattels. Slaves crept South after
- and children.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was born of this spirit, that was
formed by these years of smouldering fires.
Debates in neighborhoods and churches grew apace
and waxed furious.
The Christian heart of Timothy Gilbert was ready
.:. His mind was made up. He was
quiet, unostentati rmined, full of shifts and
subterfuges; believed God. him for his care
of the poor, and worked like a hero in the cam
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 35
Look at the Congressional Debates, and we perceive
in the discussion of 1819 the seedlings of the Kansas-
Nebraska bill, and the anti-slavery agitation which
shook the continent.
Cobb, of Georgia, fixing his eye upon Tallmadge,
the original mover of the restriction in the Missouri
compromise debate, exclaimed, that " a fire had been
kindled which all the waters of the ocean could not
put out, and which only seas of blood could extin-
guish " — a prophecy which Timothy Gilbert saw
fulfilled.
Tallmadge replied, " Language of this sort has no
effect upon me. My purpose is fixed. It is inter-
woven with my existence. Its durability is limited
with my life. It is a great and glorious cause, —
setting bounds to slavery the most cruel and debasing
the world has ever witnessed. It is the cause of the
freedom of man. If a dissolution of the Union must
take place, let it be so. If civil war, which, gentlemen
so much threaten, must come, I can only say, let it
come. ... If blood is necessary to extinguish any
fire which I have assisted to kindle, while I regret the
necessity, I shall not hesitate to contribute my own.
Are we to be told of the dissolution of the Union, of
civil war, and seas of blood? And yet with such
awful threatenings do gentlemen in the same breath
insist on the extension of this evil and scourge — an
evil brought on with dire calamities to us as individ-
uals and to the nation, threatening in its progress to
overthrow, along with the liberties of the country, all
our notions of religion and morals. You behold
southern gentlemen contributing to teach the doc-
M KM OIK OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
brines oi Christianity in every part of the globe.
Turn over the page, and you behold them legislating
secure the ignorance and stupidity of their own
slaves. The man who teaches a negro to read is
liable to a criminal prosecution. The dark, benighted
beings of all creation profit by our liberality, save
our own plantations. Where is the mission-
arv of hardihood enough to venture to teach the
slaves of Georgia? Here is the stain, the stigma,
which fastens on the character of our country, and
which, in the appropriate language of the gentleman
from Georgia, not all the waters of the ocean, only
- of blood, can wash out."
Timothy Gilbert was then twenty-two years of age.
The church had a conscience at this time. Chris-
tians South, as well as Christians North, were awake
to such ajDpeals. We behold that handsome, black-
eved. thoughtful mechanic pondering these truths. He
takes his stand. A principle is begotten within him.
.V negro is a man, and shall be considered a man.
We shall see the results of this stand. Two years
^one.
The church shakes itself, and feels its fetters. Par-
have formed and are forming. The opinion is
entertained that slavery is a local sin, bound by state
lines, and that freedom of thought and utterance shall
not overleap them.
A few radical men in Boston believed that truth
of God, and scorned boundaries. In 183 1 there
came from Virginia a protest concerning an incen-
diary print being freely distributed among their peo-
ple. Harrison Gray Otis, a former mayor of Boston,
writes a letter, in which he says, —
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 37
" The first information, received by me, of a dispo-
sition to agitate this subject in our state, was from the
governors of Virginia and Georgia, severally remon-
strating against an incendiary newspaper published in
Boston, and, as they alleged, thrown broadcast among
their plantations, inciting to insurrection and its horrid
results. It appeared, on inquiry, that no member of
the city government of Boston had ever heard of
the publication. Some time afterwards it was re-
ported to me by the city officers, that they had ferreted
out the paper and its editor ; that his office was an
obscure hole, his only visible auxiliary a negro boy,
and his supporters a very few insignificant persons of
all colors. This information ... I communicated
to the above-named governors, with an assurance of
my belief that the new fanaticism had not made, nor
was likely to make, proselytes among the respectable
classes of our people."
Such was the state of things in 1831. Anti-slavery,
said, the Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, had an " obscure
hole " for its headquarters.
Ah, it had more than that. The heart of God was
its headquarters, and the hearts of his children, among
whom proudly stood Timothy Gilbert, were the chan-
nel through which its currents found their way to this
world.
It is well to notice how and why this subject has
been kept before the people. At the outset champions
found a home in every state of the Union. Brave
words and glowing tributes fell from the lips of a
Pinkney of South Carolina, a Randolph of Vir-
ginia, characterized by as earnest an utterance is ever
j8 mi:moir of timothy gilbert.
distinguished an Adams or a Sumner. The war of
181a began to draw the lines. New England opposed
the South. In 1S20 the battle became general. In
1831 John Quincy Adams stood forth in the House
of Representatives as the champion for the right of
petition. In 1S37 the House adopted a rule, which
sustained by the Senate, ordaining that no petition
relating to slavery, nearly or remotely, should be read,
debated, or considered. The state authorities ap-
proved. Slavery was supported by the courts no less
than by the fixed habits of thought and action among
the people.
In 1S32 the Nat Turner insurrection occurred in
Virginia. It was well planned, but its author failed,
and was destroyed. Henceforth colored preachers
are banished from the pulpit.
In 1 S3 1 John Quincy Adams took his seat in Con-
>s, two years after he retired from the Presidency
of the United States. He is sixty-four years of
age, but the fires of youth burn unquenched in his
veins. In 1835 his congressional career attracted
national attention. With all the ardor and zeal of
youth, he placed himself in the front ranks of the
battle which ensued on the right of petition, plunged
into the very midst of the melee, and with a dauntless
courage, that won the plaudits of the world, held aloft
the banner of freedom in the halls of Congress when
other hearts quailed and fell back. In these contests
a spirit blazed out, as he led the "forlorn hope,"
which electrified the nation with admiration.
His first act was in relation to slavery. He pre-
sented, on the 1 2th of December, 1831, fifteen peti-
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 39
tions, numerously signed, for the abolition of slavery
in the District of Columbia. On he marched, when
the most sanguine believed his almost superhuman
labors would be in vain. Not so. Like the gnarled
oak beaten by tempests, the sage of Quincy grew
each day more hardy and more bold, as, unmoved by
the storm raging around him, he battled for the right.
His course was righteous. The air was full of a
spirit that worked for him. Timothy Gilbert, in Bos-
ton, wrote petition after petition, which were signed
and forwarded. Whoever came to his office had the
privilege of hearing some fresh utterance. In the
church, on the street, in his home, and in his place of
business, he fanned the flame of liberty. The opposi-
tion in Congress, in abolishing the freedom of speech
and the right of petition, to save an obnoxious institu-
tion, went a step too far. They made an attempt to
place their feet upon the neck of a free people.
There were too many men like Timothy Gilbert in
the North. From one end of the land to the other
there was revolt, upheaval, shame, confusion, and
disaster. Abolition Societies were formed. Docu-
ments were circulated, while each day Adams fol-
lowed petition with petition, now from the radical
North and now from the slaveholding South, now from
freemen and now from slaves, now that slavery may
be abolished and now that it may be strengthened,
until his enemies were confounded by his tactics,
overwhelmed with confusion by his gathering reputa-
tion and increasing power, and scathed by his words
of irony, denunciation, and sublime utterances in be-
half of freedom.
40 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
He claimed that the South was bound and cemented
together by a common intense interest of property to
the amount oi $1,200,000,000 in human beings; that
this vast sum is invested in property which comes
under a classification once denominated by a govern-
or in Virginia as " property acquired by crime";
k* which, in the purification of human virtue, and the
progress of the Christian religion, has become, and is
daily becoming, more and more odious ; that Wash-
ington and Jefferson, themselves slaveholders, living
and dying, bore testimony against it ; that it was the
remorse of John Randolph dying ; that it is renounced
and abjured by the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman
Church ; abolished with execration by the Moham-
medan despot of Tunis ; shaken to its foundations by
the imperial autocrat of all the Russian, and the
absolute monarch of Austria, — all, all bearing re-
luctant and extorted testimony to the self-evident truth,
that, by the laws of nature and of nature's God, man
cannot be the property of man."
" Recollect that the first cry of human feeling against
this unhallowed outrage upon human rights came
from ourselves ; that it passed from us to England,
from England to France, and spread over the whole
civilized world ; that after struggling for nearly a cen-
tury against the most sordid interests and most furious
passions of man, it made its way at length into the
Parliament, and ascended the throne of the British
Isles. The slave-trade was made piracy first by the
Congress of the United States, and then by the Parlia-
ment of Great Britain. But the curse fastened, by
the progress of Christian charity and of human rights,
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 41
upon the African slave-trade, could not rest there. If
the African slave-trade was piracy, the coasting Amer-
ican slave-trade was piracy ; nor could its aggravated
turpitude be denied. In the sight of the same God
who abhors the iniquity of the African slave-trade,
neither the American slave-trade nor slavery itself can
be held guiltless." Such is a specimen of his style,
and of fiery bolts he hurled against the tottering citadel
of slavery. Soon he gained upon his adversary. Con-
gressional district after district sent champions to his
side. States reconsidered and resolved in his behalf.
Church after church, and association after association,
followed in the march to freedom, and kept step to
the bugle notes of liberty. Soon he gained upon his
adversaries. He saw the tide was turning, and then
struck one masterly blow, not alone for freedom of
petition and debate, but of bold and retaliatory war-
fare. Like the enraged moose of our western wilds,
when the hounds are wearied, and when his blood is
up, he pounced upon his assailants with crushing
force, and offered the following amendment to the
Constitution, to be submitted to the people of the
several states for their adoption: " From and after
the 4th day of July, 1842, there shall be, throughout
the United States, ?zo hereditary slavery ; but on and
after that day, every child born within the United
States shall be free." In 1845 the obnoxious rule of
the House was rescinded. The freedom of debate
and of petition was restored, and the unrestrained and
irrepressible discussions of slavery by the press and
political parties began.
In the mean time the church had not been idle. In
42 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Timothy Gilbert's parlor, anti-slavery meetings were
o\ frequent occurrence. In his church his views were
known. In the community he was a recognized power
for the slave. In 1S50 the fugitive slave law passed.
We cannot describe the scenes in Congress, in Boston,
and throughout the Union. Timothy Gilbert, on
Wednesday. September 25, 1850, through the " Even-
ing Traveller," addressed his fellow-citizens in these
words : —
" This infamous bill has finally passed both Houses
of Congress. My opinions may have but little
weight with those who voted for it, but may help sus-
tain the sinking spirit of some poor, disconsolate one,
who. having fled from the land of oppressors, is anx-
iously looking to see if there is any one who will give
him a cheering look or a kind reception, or who dares
to give him a crust of bread or a cup of water, and
help him on the way. Allow me to say to such a
one, that if pursued by the merciless slaveholder, and
every other door in Boston is shut against him, there
is a door that will be open at No. 2 Beach Street
[now No. 8], and that the fear of fines and imprison-
ments will be ineffectual when the pursuer shall de-
mand his victim. If he enters before the fleeing cap-
tive is safe, it will be at his peril.
" I am opposed to war, and all the spirit of war, —
even to all preparations for what is called self-defence
in times of peace, — yet I should resist the pursuer,
and not allow him to enter my dwelling until he was
able to tread me under his feet. I will not trample
upon any law, either of my own state or of the nation,
that does not conflict with my conscientious duty to
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 43
my God ; but Jesus has commanded, saying, ' All
things whatsoever ye would that men should do to
you, do ye even so to them.' "
Pause a moment. The man is true to humanity —
as true as was Theodore Parker, or Garrison, or Phil-
lips, the thunders of whose eloquence shook Faneuil
Hall, and resounded through the land. He did not
turn away from Christ, nor ignore the divinity of the
Son of God, while he battled for the humanity of the
negro. He carried his love for Christ through all
those years of obloquy and reproach ; and boldly
writes in a public paper his reason for his conduct,
saying, " Jesus has commanded," and then proceeds
with the argument. Placing himself in the condition
of the slave, he says, " If, for no crime, I had been
taken and sold, and deprived of all the rights of my
manhood, and degraded to the rank of a beast of bur-
den, not only deprived of the opportunity to labor for
the support of my wife and children, but even deprived
of their kind sympathy and companionship whenever
the interest or will of my oppressors should require it,
and I should, at the peril of my life, flee from my
oppressors, and they should pursue me to the dwelling
of some poor disciple of Jesus, — it may be that of a
colored man, — and I should beg of him to protect
me, and help me to escape from the pursuers' grasp,
should I not hope, if he was a Christian, he would
give me bread and water, and help me on my way,
regardless of the fines and imprisonments that such a
kind act might render him liable to ? Could I expect
to meet the approbation of my Lord if I did not do as
much for the fleeing slave ? Can there be a Christian
44
MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
in the land of the Pilgrims who will not do it, and
besides do all in his power to prevent anyone of those
senators or representatives in Congress, who voted for
that infamous bill, from ever again misrepresenting
any portion of the friends of freedom in Boston or
A here? It is said, ' This is a law of the land, and
must be obeyed.' To such I would say, c Whether it
be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more
than unto God, judge ye.'
" I prefer to obey God, if in so doing I must break
the laws of men and be punished, rather than violate
the laws of God, and obey the laws of men to escape
fines and imprisonments, or even death." Signed T.
Gilbert, Boston, September 3, 1850.
To this, as was usual in his letters, is attached a
postscript. A friend once said, " Timothy Gilbert
wrote letters for his postscripts. Read them, and you
know why he wrote." In this postscript he explains
why he calls the law infamous, and gives his reason
in these wrords : " Because by it the man or woman
who is charged with being a slave is deprived of all
the means of self-defence allowed to those charged
with crimes, and to be delivered up summarily, with-
out the right of trial by jury, or any other proper
means of proving the charge groundless. Is it a worse
crime to be a slave than to be a thief or a murderer?"
Two facts deserve mention. That night, as soon as
Theodore Parker had devoured the letter, while his
heart was hot, he grasped his hat, ran round the cor-
ner, found No. 2 Beach Street, rung the be^l, and
said, "'Is Timothy Gilbert in?' Timothy Gilbert
stepped into the hall, and then and there for the first
time locked hands with that fiery apostle of freedom."
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 45
Last spring, in Virginia, I pictured the scene, and
related this story, to three thousand negroes in Rich-
mond. Their sighs and sobs revealed the fact that an
answering chord of sympathy had been struck, while
their conduct to our brothers all through the war,
their kindness to the poor, escaped prisoners, to the
wounded and dying, show that the effect of our kind-
ness to fleeing fugitives has made a deep impression
upon the loyal African heart.
There was another fact revealed to us by a scrap
of history brought to our notice by the waves of war.
We find the following in the " Massachusetts Weekly
Spy," Worcester, October 29, 1862 : —
" Rebel Documents. — One of our correspondents
with the sixth regiment has been kind enough to
send us several rebel documents found in a lawyer's
office in Suffolk, Va. The office has been taken for
a guard-house, its owner, Nathaniel Reddick, being
now in Jeff Davis's army. Among the papers is a
receipt for i one negro woman named Reuben,' signed
by Reddick aforesaid ; also a challenge to mortal com-
bat from one Graham to a Dr. Bradford, dated 1796.
The challenge appears to have been accepted, for,
says the bearer in his return, ' His answer was, at the
Cool Springs he would meet you at daylight on Sun-
day morning.' Whether or not either of the parties
was killed is a matter of painful uncertainty. Last,
but not least, we have a letter under date of New
York, January 21, 1851, written by one of the Red-
dicks, and addressed to Benjamin, the lawyer, in which
the writer gives a chapter of his experience in pursuit
MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
of a fugitive slave. The ' case/ we presume, will be
readily recalled by parties in Boston. Riley, referred
to in the letter, doubtless means Patrick Riley, who,
if we mistake not, was a deputy under United States
Marshal Devens. The 'man Gilbert' clearly refers
[Timothy Gilbert, a well-known citizen of Boston,
the manufacturer of Gilbert's piano-fortes. ' The fac-
which the writer refers to can be none other
that his extensive warehouse. The narrative is too
interesting to keep, and notwithstanding the writer's
request to * keep things as dark as possible,' we give
the letter entire : —
H New York, January 21, 1850.
" Dear Sir : This morning very unexpectedly finds
us in Xew York. We left Boston yesterday about
three o'clock P. M., and arrived here last night about
twelve M. Monday morning, about three o'clock,
in disguise and in company with the officers, we w^ent
and guarded every street leading to the factory, and
were perfectly certain of arresting the boy ; thought
there could not be a doubt, but were disappointed.
We were then satisfied that he had got the wind of us.
On Saturday evening, after I had written to you, one
or two of the officers went in an adjoining house to
the factory, and endeavored to see inside of the fac-
tory, and there discovered a boy answering fully the
description of Lewis. On Monday morning, after we
had failed in our endeavor to arrest him, having re-
tired to our place of rendezvous, one of the officers
stepped in with that morning's paper (the ' Com-
monwealth,' the main abolition paper of the city),
and there the matter was blown. They had discovered
HIS MANNER OF LIFE. 47
these men around the factory on Saturday evening,
and ferreted out their design, and the fugitives were
immediately put on the alert ; and also two kidnappers
and slave-stealers were said to be in the city, and it
gave them h — 11. We then had a consultation with
Spencer, the marshal (Riley), and other officers em-
ployed, and they advised us to leave the city immedi-
ately, to allay suspicion. The marshal said he was
positively satisfied, by our adopting that course, that
he could soon succeed in arresting him. He, and all
concerned, appeared to be much mortified that the
thing should have got out, and he swears to have him
at all risks. So we left" the papers with such direc-
tions as were necessary, and are now in New York,
and intend waiting a few days to hear from Boston.
All of the officers are satisfied that they will know the
boy, upon sight, beyond a doubt — one of them cer-
fainly saw him while we were in Boston.
"We have kept all of our proceedings a profound
secret, and it is very necessary that secrecy should be
preserved for some time yet. We are fully satisfied —
or at least I am — that the boy is yet in Boston, and
in the house of this man Gilbert, the owner of the fac-
tory. He is quite wealthy (the piano-forte man), and
the grandest abolitionist in Boston. He will pay
fugitive slaves more for work than any other persons,
and give them the privileges of his private residence,
table, &c. ; has private watchers employed for the
better security of fugitives, &c, &c.
" Keep things as dark as possible.
" Yours truly,
" F. C. Reddick."
4S MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
We are glad to add, as a supplement to this letter,
that the United States Marshal Devens has proven
himself to be the friend of the slave. Mrs. L. Maria
Child, in a recent letter, gives him the credit for offer-
ing to pay the eighteen hundred dollars required to
free Thomas Sims, while, as an officer in the war, he
has been not only a defender of the country, but the
champion of freedom, and is now a firm and consistent
advocate for negro suffrage.
Those words of the slave-hunter furnish a beautiful
inscription for Mr. Gilbert's monument, and a fitting
close to this portion of his career in behalf of freedom.
" He was the grandest abolitionist in Boston." Grand-
est because his loyalty to man never shook or disturbed
his loyalty to God.
In Scotland they tell of the grandeur of Ben Nevis,"
because the granite pushes its way up through the
mica schist, while the porphyry crowds up through
the granite, and crowns the summit. That mountain
reminds me of Timothy Gilbert. As a man, he was
worthy of high eulogy ; as a philanthropist, he has
won higher praise ; but it is his Christianity that
crowds up through his manhood and through his
philanthropy, and to-day attracts the notice of man-
kind.
49
CHAPTER IV.
HIS MARRIAGE. THE TREMONT TEMPLE ENTER-
PRISE. NATHANIEL COLVER.
Less than five years by thirty days after his arrival
in Boston, he took to wife Mary Wetherbee, who was
born in Ashburnham, Mass., July 7? 1796. Their only
child, Mary Eunice, was born in Massachusetts, June
8, 1827, and afterwards became the wife of his partner
in business and steadfast friend, Major William H.
Jameson.
Miss Wetherbee possessed many remarkable traits
of character. She was cheerful, and filled her home
with sunshine. She was talented, and exerted a
marked influence upon the circle in which she moved.
She was benevolent and philanthropic to an extraor-
dinary extent. Her footstep was a familiar sound as
she climbed the garret stairways bearing food or
medicine to the poor and sick. She was a felt power
in the church and in the community. Her hand bound
up the wounds of many a scarred slave, and supplied
the wants of many a half-famished fugitive. The
home of Timothy Gilbert was for years the station of
the underground railroad in Boston. Men who were
known to be true to liberty, in Hartford and elsewhere,
relate that the slaves that passed through were all
booked for No. 2 Beach Street. Sometimes as many
3
MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
as half a dozen oi a night found shelter, friends, and
comfort beneath that hospitable roof. A man cannot
keep such a home unless the wife is willing. Mary
Wetherbee Gilbert was ever willing, and the blessings
of those read\- to perish came to her in rich abundance.
She was devotedly pious, and shared with her hus-
band his trials and his joys, and labored in the cause
of Christ and humanity with pleasure to herself and
with profit to those about her.
They went to keeping house in May, 1826. Early
in 1S29 he dissolved partnership with E. R. Currier,
and commenced business alone in some lofts now oc-
cupied by John Putnam, but vacated by John Osborne
in 1S29.
The ten years that follow were passed in the quiet
discharge of duties incident to the position he occupied
in the church and in the world. His relations to the
church in Charles Street, though in the main pleasant,
induced him to seek a more congenial atmosphere,
where he might give expression to his anti-slavery
opinions. It is said, that when he contemplated unit-
ing with Federal Street, there was a feeling of opposi-
tion on the part of some of the members because of his
ultra views. Soon after his uniting with the church, he
filled his pew with colored people. No one objected.
Soon he became satisfied with the views of the church,
and during his brief sojourn he pursued a course that
endeared him to the membership, and secured, for the
free place of worship he went out to establish, their
sympathy and aid. In a letter addressed to the Tre-
mont Street Church, September 3, 1852, he alludes
to the supposition that it was his devotion to the anti-
TREMONT TEMPLE ENTERPRISE.
51
slavery reform which led him to take his stand, and
says, " I came out from another church to aid in the
formation of a free Baptist Church in Boston, not from
any ill feeling towards those I left, nor wholly from a
desire to carry out what I believed, and still believe, to
be the principles of the Bible regarding slavery, in-
temperance, and other evils in the church of Christ ;
but my ultimate object, and without which I should
not have been likely to have undertaken the enterprise,
was to open in the city a centrally located house of
worship, with free seats, on some self-supporting plan,
where all, whatever might be their condition or cir-
cumstances in life, might have an opportunity to hear
the gospel and enjoy the means of grace."
It was not then for political reasons, or even for the
purpose of promoting any special reform, that he came
out to enter upon this work. Boston churches were
crowded. The pulpit was alive to the questions of the
hour, and many of the churches were enjoying precious
revivals.
Then, as now, a vast multitude were unreached. It
was difficult to obtain sittings for strangers, and
especially for the poor, in the houses of God. He
longed to see the rich and poor meet together on a
common level in the sanctuary, and so he con-
ceived of the plan, which, if carried out, would make
such a place largely self-sustaining. Hence he said,
" I did this, having in view the fact that several other
unsuccessful attempts had been made in New York
and Boston.
" That fact, probably more than any other, led me,
in order to prevent a failure,' and have any reasonable
J2 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
hope of success, to seek for a place where the income
of the property would in part, if not altogether, pay
for itself — meet the current expenses of keeping the
same in repair, support preaching so far as it was safe
to do so. secure an active and efficient church, and in
the end, if possible* have something to provide for the
wants of the poor, of which such a church and con-
gregation would be likely chiefly to consist." This
he declares to have been his original purpose, and to
have stated it to individuals and to the church without
provoking any objections. With this object in view
his mind was directed to the estate on which the
Boston Museum now stands, and also to another site
at the corner of Court and Sudbury Streets, both for
sale. It was his custom — so he relates — frequently to
go out at night in the hope of resting a weary brain
and giving loose rein to his desires and longings for a
free house of worship into which he might welcome
the poor. At these times he would take long walks
through the deserted streets. On one of these oc-
casions, while oppressed and burdened with the con-
dition of the young mechanics and apprentices, and
also of the great crowd of strangers without a Sabbath
home, he was walking down School Street, having just
passed Tremont Theatre, when, suddenly impressed
with the mission of such an establishment as the
charter of Tremont Temple contemplates, he stopped,
and retraced his steps, and stood in front of the old
theatre. It was the noon of night. The bells were
striking. The streets were silent. He bared his head
and took his vow, offering a prayer for guidance.
Immediately he took steps to ascertain what was
TREMONT TEMPLE ENTERPRISE. 53
required to make the purchase. To his surprise he
found that for twelve thousand five hundred feet of
land in the heart of Boston, covered by a building,
substantially built, with a marble front and solid
brick walls, the small sum of fifty-five thousand dol-
lars would suffice to secure the property. He re-
garded the fact that capitalists should have failed to
take it as a remarkable providence in his favor.
Though the church was feeble in pecuniary strength,
so that by many it was thought presumptuous to make
the attempt, though many of the newspapers intimated
that we should fail after the work was begun, which,
considering the magnitude of the undertaking and our
real strength, was not surprising ; yet the Lord was
on our side, and by his signal interpositions turned
back the shafts of our enemies, and in several instances
caused that which was intended to embarrass us to turn
out for the advancement of the object. In this way,
and not by our skill, or wisdom, or strength, the work
was accomplished. It was the Lord's work, and it is
marvellous in our eyes. There is a secret history
which deserves to be uncovered. Few know into
what straits and difficulties he was led by this un-
dertaking. He records the fact that it -Was only by
divine favor almost miraculously manifested, that the
property now known as the Tremont Temple estate, is
prospectively secured to the cause of Christ.
The following letter serves to throw light upon this
portion of history : —
Washington, D. C, October 1, 1865.
Dear Bro. Fulton : My first acquaintance with
Mr. Gilbert was in 1840, when the First Baptist Free
J4 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
church (as it was then called) worshipped in Julian
Hall, at the corner of Milk and Congress Streets,
Boston. Mr. Gilbert was one of the original members
o\ the church, and took a deep interest in its welfare
and success. He was fully impressed with the im-
portance of there being at least one place of worship
in Boston with free seats, where all persons, whether
rich or poor, without distinction of color or condition,
could take a seat where they pleased, and have the
gospel preached to them in its purity. He felt that
such a place was needed in Boston, especially for the
large class of floating population of young persons,
male and female, who were not regular attendants at
any church, but who might be induced to attend if the
seats were free. To the accomplishment of this object
he devoted much of his time, and of the means which
his success in business had enabled him to accumulate,
recognizing, as he always did, that plain principle of
Christian duty (too often practically denied by many
professed Christians), that all the property God, in his
providence, places in our hands,' is to be used as his,
and not as our own ; and that, as his stewards, we are
accountable to him for the use of our time, and the
means committed to our care.
Soon after the removal of our place of worship from
Milk Street to the corner of Tremont and Bromfield
Streets, Mr. Gilbert became deeply impressed with the
importance of securing an eligible lot of land upon
which to erect a large audience-room, capable of seat-
ing the thousands who were wandering around the
streets and the Common on the Sabbath, but few of
whom could be seated in the small hall occupied by
us, and which was crowded to excess.
TREMONT TEMPLE ENTERPRISE. 55
At this time I was his confidential clerk, and a
member of the same church with him, and had, per-
haps, a better opportunity than any one else of know-
ing his anxiety on the subject, and the immense amount
of thought and labor which he prayerfully devoted to
the accomplishment of the object which he believed
God required should be accomplished.
Among other sites examined was the one now oc-
cupied by Kimball's Museum, on Tremont Street. The
property was then owned by Hon. John C. Gray.
After Mr. Gilbert had personally surveyed the land
himself, and ascertained how large a hall could be
built upon it, he went into a careful estimate of what
an appropriate building would cost, and how much
income might be obtained from the stores under the
hall.
He then obtained from Mr. Gray his terms for the
land, and a refusal of it for a certain length of time.
He held frequent consultations with Deacon Simon G.
Shipley, Thomas Gould, and William S. Damrell, all
of whom were true friends of the enterprise, and had
the fullest confidence in Mr. Gilbert's judgment and
purity of motives, and were always ready to aid him
to the extent of their ability. Just as matters were as-
suming a shape which seemed to warrant the purchase
of the property, other parties commenced negotiating
for the same, and Mr. Gray wrote a note to Mr. Gil-
bert, withdrawing his offer to sell on the terms he had
before given. Mr. Gilbert was sadly disappointed,
and endeavored to induce Mr. Gray to consent to bis
former terms, but without success.
About this time the owners of the Tremont Theatre
56 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
advertised that building for sale. Mr. Gilbert im-
mediately made a thorough examination of that prop-
erty, and consulted with the three persons I have
before named, also with Deacon Samuel Hill, of South
Boston, another true friend of the enterprise. Many
a night have I spent with Mr. Gilbert, till near mid-
night, making estimates as to what it would cost to re-
model the building, and what income could be reason-
ably expected from the stores and lettings of the halls.
Just at this time Mr. Gilbert met with an obstacle
which gave him considerable anxiety. Upon consult-
ing with his then partner in business, he found that,
although he wished the object success, and was willing
to do all he thought reasonable to accomplish it, he
was fearful that it would take so much of Mr. Gilbert's
time, and of the means of the firm, that it might
seriously interfere with their business ; and therefore
he hesitated to give his consent. I well recollect the
conversation he had with his partner on the subject,
and it ended by his saying to him, " Well, think and
pray over the matter to-night, and let me know in the
morning your decision." In the morning his partner
said, " I cannot see my way clear to consent."
" Well," said Mr. Gilbert, " I have prayed much over
the subject, and think God requires me to do it; and
if I cannot do it with you as my partner, I must do it
without your being my partner."
Finding that Mr. Gilbert felt that his duty to God
required him to do it, his partner then consented.
Having been thus relieved by the consent of his
partner, what was his surprise, on taking up the morn-
ing paper, to find, among the items of news, that the
TREMONT TEMPLE ENTERPRISE. 57
Tremont Theatre had been sold to the Massachusetts
Charitable Mechanics' Association, and that the papers
had been passed the day before. His disappointment
was extreme, that after all his labors and anxiety, God
had seemed again to block his way to success. I sug-
gested to him that possibly the report in the papers
might not be true, and, at his request, I went im-
mediately to see the treasurer of the Theatre Corpora-
tion, who informed me that a bargain had been made
with the Mechanics' Association, and he had considered
it settled, but that the previous afternoon, when he
met the representatives of the Association to pass the
papers, he found there was a misunderstanding, the
Mechanics' Association claiming that the chandeliers
and gas-fixtures were to be included in the purchase,
while the Theatre Corporation insisted that they were
not to be included, and that this small matter only had
prevented the consummation of the sale. He said he
had no doubt the Association would, upon reflection,
yield their claim to the gas-fixtures, but that he was
?iow at liberty to make the sale to any one else.
I returned at once, and informed Mr. Gilbert, and
we immediately went with Messrs. Shipley, Gould,
Damrell, and, I think, Deacon Clement Drew, and
had the papers drawn up and signed, made the re-
quired payment, and consummated the purchase that
day.
About this time I became a partner in business with
Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Safford, and Mr. Gilbert devoted
nearly his whole time to superintending the remodel-
ling of the building. For nearly a year his mind was
engrossed and his time spent at the building ; and
3*
58 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
again, when the old Tremont Temple was destroyed,
he devoted all his time, and the entire credit of the
firm, in rebuilding the present structure, performing
an amount of labor, and assuming pecuniary respon-
sibilities, known to but few at the time.
I have thus hastily and briefly stated a few facts,
which I thought, perhaps, may not have come to
your notice.
His other services in the church, and his successful
efforts to prevent the Temple from being sold out of
the control of the Baptist denomination, are, no doubt,
well known to you.
Thank God, he lived to see two objects accom-
plished, for which he had long labored and prayed,
viz., our beloved country redeemed from the curse of
slavery, and the Tremont Temple enterprise a perma-
nent success.
Yours, truly,
Wm. H. Jameson.
Mr. G.'s consecration to Christ was only equalled by
his reliance upon Christ. Frequently, when his way
was hedged up and he could see no hope of deliverance,
when he wanted money to meet his obligations and
keep the Temple from interfering with his legitimate
business, with a faith second neither to that which
characterized Elijah when he prayed for fire to de-
scend from heaven, nor that which distinguished Muller
when he spread out the wants of his orphans, he has
been known to shut himself up in his room, and ab-
stain from food, from society, from family, and from
business, that he might uncover the interests of the
TREMONT TEMPLE ENTERPRISE. 59
cause of Christ, spread them out before God, and ciy
for help. When he gained the assurance of victory
he would descend with a smile from his mount of
prayer, and was never known to be disappointed in
results. It is a fact that burdens steady the lone
column. Is it not possible that these trials, coming
in the midst of anti-slavery excitements, held him as
with hooks of steel to the cause espoused and to the
church? " I am sure," said he, " that no one who has
gone to God as I have, and received such manifest
tokens of the divine favor, would now dare abandon
the undertaking that had been so signally favored,
while there was any reasonable prospect left that it
could be carried through. I could, with as little com-
punctions of conscience, set my face against the church
of Christ, and advocate infidelity, as to turn against
the enterprise in which I had so manifestly seen God's
favor." He was then in the prime of a healthy man-
hood, had enough of persistency and stick-to-ative-
ness about him to follow up his convictions, and so
the conception which dropped into his mind as a
thought from God, grew until he came to believe in
the possibility of furnishing, in the centre of Boston, a
place of worship free and accessible to all, which
might win the present beautiful appellation of " The
Stranger's Sabbath Home." The plan was simple
and unique. It was no other than to take a building
of sufficient capacity, fit it up for stores and offices,
the rent of which should provide for current expenses
and repairs, and at the same time, when the debt was
removed, furnish a mission fund to be used in pro-
viding for the destitute at home and abroad.
60 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
The Tremont Street Church was formed of eighty-
two members, April iS, 1S39, anc^ f°r twelve years
was served by Nathaniel Colver as pastor. The num-
ber added by baptism and letter during the year 1840
was ninety ; in 1841, thirty ; in 1842, one hundred and
twenty- six.
The retrospect from this point is delightful. When
the project was started, and the foundations of this
enterprise were laid, the cause of Christ, in Boston, was
going on from conquest to conquest. Baldwin Place
Church was crowded under the ministry of Rev. Baron
Stow, D. D. Rollin H. Neale, a young man, began his
ministry in 1837, an(^ m J^3^ there was not a seat to
be found in that thronged sanctuary where waiting
crowds hung spell-bound, and listened with delight
to an oratory which then as now glows with the love
of Christ. Charles Street was at court end, crowded
with the hundreds who admired the courtly Daniel
Sharp, whose praise is yet in all the churches, while
the Hall in Boylston Street in which Robert Turn-
bull preached, and the house in Federal Street in
which the eloquent Howard Malcom had minis-
tered, waited with a splendid congregation to welcome
a worthy successor, which they found in William
Hague. Then it was Nathaniel Colver came. He
was fresh from the country. He was impulsive, bold,
eloquent, thoroughly honest, somewhat eccentric. He
was a power because he was a man of God. He
swayed a mighty influence. Born in Orwel, Ver-
mont, May 10, 1794, the son of a minister of Christ,
who was noted as a self-made man, strong and lucid
in the exhibition of truth, attributing his conversion
TREMONT TEMPLE ENTERPRISE. OI
to the accumulating power of God's word, long and
intense thought, attended by the Holy Ghost ; from
a child accustomed to strong religious impressions,
the result of a pious mother's influence, when the
Spirit of God wrought his work in his heart, there
was a change produced. He loved to describe it.
He had been to an evening meeting. He was on
his way home. His burden was too heavy for him to
bear. He went into the woods, and there, like Jacob
by the brook, wrestled for deliverance. It came at
the break of day, and he arose a new man in Christ
Jesus. When he came to Boston, parties were ran-
ging for a desperate conflict. Possessed of a clear and
logical mind, endowed with a lively imagination, with
great powers of argumentation, a ready debater, per-
fectly fearless in the enunciation of truth, — he took at
once a foremost position, and became a champion of
the oppressed, and a leading advocate of Temperance
and of Reform.
Two letters addressed to " Dear brother Gilbert,"
dated April 10, and May 10, 1839, reveal the heart of
the man, his attachment to his flock in Greenwich,
N. Y., and at the same time his fondness for the
work in Boston. He was " bound in the spirit."
He asks the church to meet him at the throne of grace
at half past nine o'clock each evening. "I feel as if it
would be a pleasure to me to stand up in one of your
little parlor meetings and preach from the text,
' What is thy beloved more than any other beloved,'
or from David's words, c Whom have I in heaven but
thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside
thee.'
6l MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
1 What wondrous grace in Jesus reigns
To love and cleanse us from our stains,
That with his own best robe adorns,
And puts a comeliness on worms ! '
" I love David and Solomon because they spoke so
well of my God. I admire that a religion so old as
to have been their companion, can be so fresh and
new as it appears to me to-night. David's offering
was a broken heart. The fires of divine love con-
sumed it upon the altar. O Lord, help me to lay my
heart, all broken, upon the same altar, and let the same
fire come down from heaven and embrace it."
Breathing this spirit of consecration to the service
of Christ, he came to Boston and was installed as
pastor of the First Free Church, afterwards known as
the Tremont Street Church, and now by the union of
the Baptist Church in Merrimac Street with the Tre-
mont Street Baptist Church, the Union Temple Baptist
Church, on September 15, 1839, m *ne First Baptist
Church. For three months the church met in Tre-
mont Row, one year in Congress Hall, and afterwards
until the completion of the Temple, in a Hall under
the Museum building, corner of Tremont and Brom-
field Streets.
In Nathaniel Colver, Deacon Gilbert found his coun-
terpart. They were unlike in many particulars, but
were admirably adapted to work together. Mr. Gil-
bert was extremely anxious that his pastor should be
stripped of all infirmities, that, fetterless and free, he
might pursue his work for God and souls.
The story of Mr. C. being cured from the use of
tobacco deserves mention. When he came to Boston
TREMONT TEMPLE ENTERPRISE. 63
he was an inveterate user of the weed. It grieved
and tried Deacon Gilbert. We have noticed the dea-
con's adherence to a principle, and the means he used
to press his point. One day he gave his pastor a
five-dollar bill, and told him to hand it back when he
recommenced the use of the narcotic. By some strange
mishap Mr. Colver lost the bill. Then came back the
desire to smoke with increased strength. Mr. C.
took another bill, and carried it to the deacon, lay-
ing it down, and saying, " I have concluded to resume
the use of tobacco." Those who are familiar with the
deacon will recall with what moderation he would turn
around, take up the bill, and express his sorrow.
While looking at the money his black eye flashed. A
thought illumined his face. He perceived that his
pastor was in his power, and that he was master of
the situation. Quietly and calmly he remarked, hand-
ing it back, "This is not the bill I gave you, and
before you can smoke with my consent you must re-
turn that one." " But I have lost it," exclaimed the
pastor. " Can't help it," replied the deacon. Two
determined men met and stood face to face. Timothy
Gilbert, in such a cause, was immovable. The search
was renewed and prosecuted for a time, but at last
principle came to his aid, and the mastery was gained,
and Mr. Colver became a strong anti-tobacco advo-
cate.
Mr. Gilbert would not allow the use of tobacco in his
house without making it unpleasant for those who
indulged in the degrading practice, and he exerted a
strong influence towards weeding out this cursed poison
from the ranks of the ministry, as many others can bear
64 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
witness besides the first pastor of the Tremont Street
Church.
As has been intimated, the church were accustomed
to gather for prayer in Mr. Gilbert's parlors, where
the poorest was welcomed as well as those capacitated
to share his burdens. That little company has been
thinned by death ; yet a few remain who remember
those seasons of refreshing from on high, and each
and all speak of the happiness of him who placed his
talents, property, and time upon the altar of sacrifice.
The close and pungent preaching of the pastor de-
lighted and fed him. The cry, " I am wounded,"
which frequently greeted their ears as some lost soul
sought Christ, was to him like the song of the turtle
and the singing of birds-*- the precursor of the com-
ing of the Lord. He carried his principles into his
business and into his pleasures. He was not a com-
panionable man. He was full of energy and push,
and made the indolent uneasy in his presence, and by
his life and speech evidenced very little respect for
those who desired rest. His wife shared his sympathy,
and had wonderful control over his restless spirit.
She was a helpmeet indeed. Here is a glimpse of a
meeting sketched by her hand in a letter dated May 5,
1840: " Beloved Husband : I have just received
your kind and affectionate letter. Although I have
since heard from you, through Mr. SafYord, yet to
receive a letter from you is very grateful to my feel-
ings. Every word is like apples of gold in pictures
of silver. I expect you would like to hear from the
church, and so I will give you an account of the Fri-
day evening meeting. Five candidates related their
TREMONT TEMPLE ENTERPRISE. 65
experience. For that reason there was not time for a
covenant meeting. Sabbath day, Mr. Colver baptized
at South Boston. In the afternoon Mr. Colver gave
the right hand of fellowship to about thirty. We had
a very precious season. Surely the Lord is good to
us; let his praise be ever upon our lips." On the
same sheet is a note, written by his daughter, which
shows the child's heart, and indicates the child's love
and confidence. " Dear Father : I received your kind
letter this afternoon, and read it with interest. I wish
I could love the Saviour as well as I do you ; but I
can't feel as I ought. If I try to think about anything
serious, my thoughts will wander to something else,
and I can't keep my mind on it. -I wish you would
pray for me, that my thoughts may be kept upon the
Saviour. I want to see you very much, indeed ; it seems
as though you had been gone a month. Please write
me another letter before you come home, if it is con-
venient." How truthfully such letters mirror the
home life of a man ! Two days later the wife writes,
" The time seems very long since you left, but I hope
to see you now soon. I should like to hear of your
prosperity, but I hope neither of us will be over-
anxious about temporal concerns. If our souls pros-
per, and are in health, we shall be happy, whether in
prosperity or adversity. In your letter you mentioned
that you thought of the church in the hour of prayer.
I can assure you, you are not forgotten by them. At
the close of the meeting, all ask when I expect you
home, and exclaim, 4 How we miss him ! ' And Mr.
Colver said, last evening, ' It made a big hole in Bos-
ton to have you gone.' I hope we shall not think too
66 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
much of the creature, and forget the Creator — the
: fountain from whence all our blessings flow. It
- me pleasure to learn of your access to the throne
of grace. It must be very sweet, after the toils of the
day. to retire alone, and commune with your heavenly
Father ; to feel that we have a Saviour, that careth for
us. on whom we can roll all our cares, and tell him
every joy and every sorrow ; one who has said, not a
hair of your head shall fall to the ground without his
notice. May our love for the precious Saviour in-
crease every day. until our hearts are filled with his
love, and we can tread the world beneath our feet."
The thirteen-year-old daughter adds, in her usual
place, ;; Dear Father : I want to see you very much.
and give you a kiss." This letter also furnishes the
intimation, that Mr. Colver is going to London, to
attend the great convention, and reveals the way the
money was raised, when Sewing Societies and Eman-
cipation Societies united in sending their fearless rep-
resentative to the world's great mart, to vindicate the
cause of oppressed humanity.
67
CHAPTER V.
REV. JACOB KNAPP THE BAPTIST CAUSE IN BOSTON
IN 184O. THE CHARACTER OF THE EVANGELIST,
AND HIS WORK IN NEW BEDFORD, PROVIDENCE,
AND BOSTON. LETTER FROM MR. KNAPP, SHOWING
THE PART BORNE IN THE WORK BY MR. GILBERT.
In 1840 the Bowdoin Square Church was formed,
with one hundred and forty members, and with the
erudite and scholarly Robert W. Cushman for pastor.
The churches of Boston at that time were largely led
by young men with whose names fame has long been
familiar. In the pulpit of the First Church was
Rollin H. Neale ; Baron Stow ministered in Baldwin
Place, William Hague in Federal Street, Daniel Sharp
in Charles Street, Robert Turnbull in Boylston Street,
and Nathaniel Colver in Tremont Street. Dr. Neale
had been but a few years out of the seminary, and
was noted even then for his eloquence and power.
The church in Baldwin Place was thronged, and the
ardent and impulsive Stow thrilled the hearts of
waiting multitudes. William Hague was in the midst
of a powerful work in Federal Street. Then, as now,
he was planning large things for the cause of his Mas-
ter, and reaped with no sparing hand. At this period,
so opportune for the churches, the cloud appeared over
New Bedford, and the sound of an abundance of rain
MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
heard in various r. f Xew England. On
the 5 th day of June, Rev. Jacob Knapp unfurled in
Xew Bedford the banner of the cross, in f the
ship-mas;. sailors of that city by the sea. Rev.
Henry Jackson, pastor hurch. in a letter to the
Taunton Association, says. *• For seven weeks, in the
midsummer months, the people met him in the house
of God thrice daily, except when detained by ill
health." Days of fasting, humiliation, and prayer
were observed. Incessant and importunate prayer
continually ascended to God. A few persons indulged
a hope, but the great mass of the unconverted were
unaffected. The church was confident that so much
prayer could not be lost. They held to the promises
of God's word, and pleaded for the honor of Jehovah.
the reputation of the cross of Christ, and the value of
souls, that God would not withhold his Spirit. Many
obstacles existed. The heat of the weather, the pres-
-ar: :f aasiitess. the shortness of the evenings, and.
a": :ve ah. the infidelity of the people, and the unbe-
lief of Christians, seemed for a season to baffle everv
effort. At last the Spirit came down with mighty-
power, and hundreds crowded the rooms of prayer.
deeply in earnest to know what they must do to be
saved. The endre choir were converted. Baptismal
scenes were indescribably solemn when evangelist and
pastor buried willing disciples at the same time in the
likeness of Christ. About three hundred and fifty-
were hopefully converted to God. This meeting in-
troduced Jacob Knapp to Xew England.
He was then forty-two years of age. He possessed
transcendent abilities as an orator. He was Christ's
MR. KNAPP's BIRTH AND LIFE. 69
lieutenant, and knew how to get his Captain's com-
panies into line, and prepare them for action. He
believed in a personal God and in a personal devil.
Like Luther, he was a man of faith and a man of war.
Born in Otsego, Otsego County, N. Y., December 7,
1799, the son of a farmer, his parents members of the
Episcopal church, he was early indoctrinated into the
forms. When converted to God, he was led not by a
minister or a church, but by the Spirit and word of
God, to be a Baptist. He was immersed by Rev.
Daniel Robertson, in Masonville, Delaware County,
N. Y., in 1819. He entered the literary and theologi-
cal institution of Hamilton, N. Y., in 1822, and grad-
uated in 1825. For eight years he preached as a
pastor, after which he devoted himself to the work of
an evangelist. Of him, as a man of God, there have
been, and will be, a diversity of views. He was bold,
uncompromising, and determined. His preaching
would please those who wanted the devil's kingdom
stirred up, while it would displease those who longed
for peace and quiet. Of his general character there
was but one opinion ; but of the measures he em-
ployed, and the course he pursued, in these meetings,
various and conflicting opinions were entertained.
Fear and hope alternately preponderated, until all
came to the full conviction that one possessing such
pure and elevated piety, and governed so generally by
the motives of Christ, would not be suffered widely to
err. Confidence in him and his measures was con-
firmed. These results were constantly substantiated
by the effects produced upon the multitudes who
thronged the house. Men and women of established
7<3 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
character experienced by this instrumentality the
power of the gospel. The work increased in interest
and execution, by the same means, after he had gone
— a fact demonstrating that God had owned and put
his seal upon them. Anxious seats had been com-
plained of, and by the church hitherto dreaded. At
last, though no importance was attached to the bench,
yet it was viewed as a means by which hundreds have
been brought to a decision in religion. Elder Knapp
preached the gospel in its simplicity and power. He
hesitated not to expose sin in every form, and strove
mainly for the awakening and perfecting of the saints
and the conversion of sinners. In his departure he
bore abundant proofs of the confidence and respect of
the pastor, the church, and the community, and was
commended to the churches as one who had given
evidence of being designated by the great Head of the
church to the work of an evangelist.
From New Bedford, Mr. Knapp went to Provi-
dence, on the 19th of September, to the help of Rev.
John Dowling, D. D., where it is thought over four
hundred were led to Christ. It was while in Provi-
dence that he was prosecuted for referring to the char-
acter of an individual who had disturbed the meeting.
The action served to call attention to him, and induced
Dr. Dowling to give this wholesome advice, which is
worthy of general acceptance : "Do not distract his
mind by telliiig him any of the floating gossip with
which probably your city will be filled during his
stay among you. Tell him nothing which you may
hear, except what may have a tendency to strengthen
Ms hands and encourage his heart in the work in
MR. KNAPP IN BOSTON. 7 1
which he is engaged? — I am convinced that but
few men live so near to God, and possess so much
of all that is excellent in the Christian character, as
brother Knapp. May the Lord help me and all my
ministering brethren to drink as deep into the spirit
of Christ, and hold as sweet communion with God, as
that dear brother ! " Rev. T. C. Jameson, who within
ten weeks baptized one hundred and twelve converts,
added his testimony to the fervor and power of this
man of God. In Providence there was determined
opposition to his efforts, on the part of several distin-
guished ministers. On the other hand, a document,
speaking of him in the highest praise, was signed by
over three thousand individuals, and forwarded to
Boston, where an effort was being made to destroy his
influence. On or about the ist of January, 1842, he
began his labors with the First Church, Rev. Rollin
H. Neale, pastor, and preached there in the afternoon,
in the evening at Baldwin Place, Rev. Baron Stow, pas-
tor. On Monday, January 9, Mr. Knapp commenced
at Bowdoin Square Church, where he preached both
afternoon and evening. It was while here that he
met his fiercest oppositions. Mobs gathered about
Bowdoin Square as they gathered in the olden time
about the synagogue in Lystra, and would have stoned
Jacob Knapp, and have dragged him through the city,
as the Jews persuaded the people of Lystra to do unto
the apostle to the Gentiles. Never did chieftain bear
himself more bravely, never did martyr walk more in
humble reliance upon the promises of a covenant-
keeping God, than did this fearless preacher. Citi-
zens were stirred by his appeal and awed by his
p MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
sublime courage. William Ellery Charming said,
concerning him, " Let the minister alone ; a man who
can stir Boston like that will do good."
Day after clay the excitement grew more fierce and
intense. At length it was reported throughout the
city that Mayor Chapman had said that the preacher
was imprudent, and might take the consequences of
his own conduct. Immediately Rev. William Hague,
though not a supporter of his measures, called upon
the mayor, and informed him of the report, saying
that the occasion made its appeal to every lover
of religious liberty, and in such an emergency he
should feel it to be his duty to stand beside the
preacher, and share the consequences. The mayor
replied, " Sir, the report is not true, and all the power
I have at my command shall be concentrated at Bow-
doin Square to-night in defence of freedom of speech."
The crowds were dispersed.
To the honor of the secular press be it said that
with united voice they sustained the action of the
mayor, and supported the ambassador of Christ
through the terrible ordeal.
There was on hesitation on the part of his friends.
The church at Baldwin Place unanimously invited
Mr. Knapp to preach in their meeting-house. The
tide continued to flow in, and indications of the divine
approval abounded. The spiritual strength of Mr.
Knapp seemed literally renewed. He fired no blank
cartridges, but delivered broadsides at close range into
the ranks of the foe. The opposition roused him and
encouraged him. The attendance upon theatres waned,
that upon churches increased. On February 9, 1842,
THE WORK GOES ON. 73
the " Reflector" says, " It is our privilege to do some-
thing more than merely report progress. The work
has now attained to a degree of prevalence and power
that renders it utterly impossible for us to convey to
our more distant readers an adequate conception of
what God is permitting his people to witness and
enjoy in Boston. Every day brings to light facts and
scenes of the most thrilling interest. Among the
converts, which now amount to hundreds, there are
persons from every class and of every description of
moral character — old men with thin and silvered locks,
with deeply-furrowed cheeks, and voices tremulous
and feeble, who were long since given up by their
friends as hopeless cases, are, like little children, pray-
ing and weeping, and talking of the infinitude of God's
mercy and the love of Christ ; and young men glowing
with energy and ambition, strong with health and
hope, are proclaiming, with apostolic fervor, the
truths which to some are a stumbling-block, and to
others foolishness ; children are in many instances
rejoicing over their parents' conversion, and in many
others, parents are blessing God for the conversion of
their children. A family in which father and mother
and five adult children were converted were led to
Christ through the instrumentality of a single young
lady. Her importunity led them to the meetings ; her
kind and correct endeavors dissuaded them from drop-
ping the subject or avoiding the influence which was
now creeping over them. She rested not till God and
conscience had done their work, and the souls she
loved were loved of Heaven.
" On Tuesday evening of last week, brother Knapp
4
-.1 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
made * Universalism ' the theme of his discourse, and
for two hours and a half held a vast and crowded
auditory in almost breathless silence, while he tore up
the foundations of the system, and scattered the whole
fabric to the winds. Never did we hear such an array
ot facts — authentic, astounding, withering facts. We
thought that even his Satanic Majesty himself, had he
appeared there as a Universalist, must have quailed
under them, and hung his head in shame. "
A young man, a member of Mr. Skinner's congre-
gation, led by curiosity, found his way to Baldwin
Place. Strong in the faith of Universalism, he lis-
tened with candor, as one inquiring after truth ; and
the result was, that Mr. Knapp swept away every ves-
tige of his Universalism, and, to use his own language,
" took away every shingle and clapboard of the build-
ing — left nothing but the falling rafters, exposing his
naked soul to the peltings of the pitiless storm." The
revival was characterized by the apparent genuineness
of the conversions. The converts exhibited a clear
understanding of the evil of sin, the holiness of God's
laws, the doctrine of justification by faith, and the
necessity of entire consecration to God — topics on
which Mr. Knapp dwelt with great frequency and
power. Though some of the ministers treated Mr.
Knapp coolly, the majority of the churches were heart
and soul with him.
On the first Sabbath in February, forty-two united
with the First Church, fourteen with Bowdoin Square,
nineteen with Baldwin Place, and twenty-two with
Tremont Street.
On March 2 this announcement is made under the
THE STYLE OF THE PREACHER. 75
head of " Theatres : " " The friends of morality and
religion will rejoice to learn that the great theatre of
Boston, the Tremont, is closed, and that noble granite
edifice is offered for sale, and is likely to be converted
into a house of worship. At the conclusion of a late
entertainment, the manager announced that the thea-
tre would be closed, and stated that within the last
three months they had lost ten thousand dollars by
keeping it open." The rush was in a different direc-
tion. The churches were thronged, and Mr. Knapp
went from place to place, like a general on the field
of battle, giving aid where needed. A writer in the
"New York Evangelist" says of him, " He preaches
in his own style, saying some things that are not in
good taste, yet no doubt doing execution." A pro-
fessor in one of our theological schools attended upon
his preaching a whole Sabbath since he has been
here, and on being asked his opinion, replied, " He is
a man of genius and power, and though his preaching
is not always in good taste, yet no thief, or profane
swearer, or drunkard, or adulterer, can sit and listen
to him a great while without feeling that the constable
is after him."
The work goes on in increasing power. New and
striking cases of conviction are daily occurring among
persons of every faith, and class, and character ;
wholesale dealers in ardent spirits have yielded to the
spirit of God, and abandoned the cursed traffic. A
large distiller was found beside a vender among the
inquirers. Baptisms are occurring in the different
churches every Sabbath, and the work is spreading
through the commonwealth. March 9 the " Puritan"
76 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
has taken sides against Mr. Knapp, and three eminent
divines of the straitest sect declare " the sentiments of
Mr. Knapp are substantially sound, so far as they go,
but his violation of good taste is the great secret of
his notoriety."
The ''Reflector" speaks of Sabbath, March 6, as
furnishing a scene upon which angels would look with
delight. " Picture to yourself a crowded sanctuary,
with its long centre aisle occupied from end to end
with a dense double column of ' new recruits ' to the
army, fighting under the banners of our King, and
then receiving, one after another, the significant pledge
of Christian affection, and passing round, one to the
right hand and another to the left, until the last young
soldier was greeted, and all duly enrolled with the
sacramental host of God's elect. The work has been
more powerful in the First Church, during the last
week, than at any time before. It seems as if not a
single soul among them all was to be left in a state of
unreconciliation to God. Baptisms reported: First
Church, fifty-eight ; Baldwin Place, fifty-two ; Free
Church, forty ; Bowdoin Square, twenty-seven ; Fed-
eral Street, twenty-eight ; Boylston Street, twenty-
four ; Charles Street, six ; Independent, nineteen.
Notwithstanding these results, the " New England
Puritan" ridicules the labors of Mr. Knapp, saying,
" The operations after the sermons are more objec-
tionable than anything in the sermons themselves."
Calling forward to the anxious seat is characterized
by declaring that " the congregation is put into a
rambling state and some fifteen minutes of confusion."
" Against such machinery, so productive of wholesale
CLOSING LABORS IN BOSTON. 77
delusion, so destructive to the modesty becoming wo-
men and children, and so calculated to lead all im-
penitent men to the conclusion that religion is promoted
by trick and artifice, we feel bound to enter our solemn
protest ; " and all this because Mr. Knapp, at the con-
clusion of the sermon, was accustomed to come down
from the pulpit and exhort the impenitent to come to
Christ, and converts to tell what God had done for
their souls. The third week of March closed his labors
in Boston, with the blessings of thousands ready to
perish resting upon him, and following him to Lowell,
his next field of labor.
In accordance with the request of the leading citi-
zens of Boston, he repeated the Temperance Sermon
in Marlboro' Chapel, which, two years before, in Balti-
more, led to the reformation of J. H. W. Hawkins,
and initiated the Washingtonian reform. At the con-
clusion of the address, all who had signed the total
abstinence pledge, or were determined to sign it,
were asked to rise ; and the whole of that immense
assemblage sprang to their feet. It was a thrilling
scene, and proved the potency of the religion of
Christ to promote a spirit of reform.
The time of his sojourn drew to a close. In the
" Reflector " of March 23 there was a description of
the closing scenes. " The mornings of Thursday and
Friday, March 17 and 18, were occupied with meet-
ings devoted to expressions of gratitude for the distin-
guishing mercies of Heaven. These meetings were
full of interest. Thursday evening he preached to
converts in Bowdoin Square. Friday afternoon he
preached to Christians at Baldwin Place ; and though
^S MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
it was a week day, and in the hurry of spring, such
was the enthusiasm, that every standing place in the
house was taken, and multitudes went away. In the
evening he preached to the impenitent at Bowdoin
Square, and the solemn service was concluded with
the parting and farewell of those parties who had
lahored with him."
The preceding statements help to an understanding
of the letter written by the evangelist after the lapse
of nearly a quarter of a century. " My first acquaint-
ance with Deacon Timothy Gilbert was in the close
of 1 841 and the beginning of 1842. I boarded in his
family a portion of the three months' campaign in that
city, during which thousands were converted to God,
and the Tremont Theatre was wound up and soon
converted into a place of divine worship. God,
through my agency, wound up the theatre, and
through the agency of brother Gilbert, converted it
into a house of worship. He entered into the great
and never-to-be-forgotten work of divine grace with all
his powers of body and mind. For many days he
arose in the morning before daylight, harnessed his
horse and buggy, and took me to South Boston, where
I found a crowded house waiting with profound still-
ness and solemnity to hear the word of life (for the
religious interest in Boston then was such as to fill any
house at any hour of the night). This dear, lamented
brother would then accompany me, at ten o'clock
A. M., to the anxious room, where we labored with
great and overwhelming interest for two hours ; then
again I preached at two o'clock P. M., and again at
half past seven P. M., and wound up, at ten o'clock
LETTER CONCERNING DEACON GILBERT. 79
P. M., with a precious inquiry meeting, and brother
Gilbert was the most of the time weeping and praying
by my side, ready to every good word and work.
"At one time he palled all of his workmen together
in his parlor, and requested me to address them upon
the necessity of securing the salvation of their souls.
But I soon found that his appeals were more powerful
than mine. He told them that he did not consider the
capital in his possession his. It all belonged to God,
and he was carrying on business for God and the good
of the world, and he wished them all to attend the
meetings and secure the salvation of their souls, and
if any of them were in want of anything, to call upon
him and their wants should be supplied. All were
deeply affected, and some of them were speedily con-
verted to God.
" In the winter of i860, when laboring in Boston, I
was made a welcome inmate of his family, both by
himself and by his kind-hearted wife. At this time I
found him the same warm-hearted Christian, governed,
as formerly, by religious principles, regardless of pub-
lic opinion, only desirous to know his Master's will,
and ready to do it. At this time I baptized his two
daughters, and we enjoyed many sweet and heavenly
interviews together. But I perceived that the eighteen
years which had intervened since our former associa-
tion in the labors of the kingdom, had produced a
marked change in my old friend, as was the case with
Deacon William Hill, and many others. The vigor
of his physical constitution was diminished, and his
powers of endurance were not what they had been.
The vast amount of his business, the embarrassed
So MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
condition of his finances, and the great responsibilities
which rested upon him, seemed too much for him
longer to endure, and I was not surprised when the
sad tidings reached my western home, that Deacon
Timothy Gilbert was no more. Of him it may be
said. ' Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord ;
they rest from their labors, and their works do follow
them.' "
So much for the revival. Through that interesting
period Timothy Gilbert was at the front. When mobs
assailed them, he bared his head to the storm, and
gloried in the reproach of Christ. He procured an
elegant engraving of Mr. Knapp. He nursed him as
he would a child when worn down with fatigue.
That quiet home was the place to rest and recuperate.
Other ministers and evangelists can testify to the
revivifying influence exerted there. Mr. Gilbert was
fond of talking about Mr. Knapp. When asked as to
wdierein lay the power of Mr. Knapp, he replied in
his nearness to God, in his faith, in his ability in the
pulpit, and in his generalship. It was Mr. Gilbert's
custom to take down the texts, and to give a brief
sketch of the sermon. It is possible to follow Mr.
Knapp through the three months by these memoran-
da, to tell the texts used, and discover indications of
the rise and growth of the interest. A description
of Mr. Knapp as a preacher, and a report of one of his
sermons, are preserved among his papers. In this
description the secret of the evangelist's power is
said to lie in the narrative nature of his discourses, and
in the dramatic dress in which they are frequently
clothed. He often introduced real or imaginary char-
SKETCH OF MR. KNAPP S SERMON. 51
acters, acting and speaking in a manner appropriate to
each. The text was in Acts xiii. 40, 41 : " Beware,
therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of
in the prophets : Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and
perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which
ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it
unto you." After some introductory remarks upon the
danger and folly of despising the warnings and the
operation of the Spirit of God, especially at the present
time, when they are so remarkably manifest, he pro-
ceeded to specify instances of this great sin, and of its
consequences, cited from the Old Testament. He
began with Moses in Egypt, who showed his divine
commission to Pharaoh, in the miracles he performed
and in the judgments brought upomthe land by Pha-
raoh's despising them, and refusing to liberate the He-
brews, whom he kept as slaves. This great monarch,
said he, beheld and despised, wondered and perished.
He also saw the Red Sea miraculously divide for their
passage, and he, no doubt, " wondered" at so astonish-
ing an event ; but he " despised and perished ; " he and
his armies were overwhelmed and drowned in its
waters. The preacher here introduced, in his peculiar
manner, by way of parenthesis, the observation that
Moses was an abolitionist. The Hebrews were slaves
in Egypt, and he, by command of God, undertook to
restore their freedom, to abolish their slavery, and to
raise them to the rank of a flourishing and independent
nation. In this, after great opposition, difficulty, and
suffering, he finally, under God, succeeded.
He next alluded to the destruction of Sodom. Lot
warned the wicked inhabitants of the consequences of
A *
^2 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
their groat sins. He finally predicted the destruction
of the city and all the inhabitants, on a certain day,
by lire and brimstone. They only laughed at the pre-
diction. They called him a fool and fanatic. The
Universalists gathered around him, and asked him if
" he thought a kind and merciful God would destroy
a whole city, men, women, and innocent children, in
so barbarous a manner? No; they had a better
opinion of God. He was not such a cruel, malicious,
unmerciful being, delighting in the misery and ruin of
the children he created." On the morning of the ap-
pointed day the sun rose in all his beauty and splendor ;
there was not a cloud to be seen in the whole heavens.
The air was pure and serene, and there was never a
fairer prospect of an uncommonly fine day. "Ah,"
said they to Lot, " what do you think of this? Does
this look like a storm of fire and brimstone? You see
now what nonsense you have been telling us." They
"despised" him and his preaching. But by and by
the air began to change, and became impure, the sky
was overcast, the sun was obscured, and the heavens
gathered blackness. These despisers began to " won-
der ; " they became alarmed. At length the thunder-
ings and the lightnings commenced, and torrents of
fire and brimstone were poured down upon this wicked
and devoted city. Every soul perished, except Lot
and his family, who departed in season to escape.
Thus these sinful and depraved unbelievers " despised,
and wondered, and perished."
Allusion was made to Noah and the building of the
ark. He proclaimed the coining flood, and warned
the people to prepare for it. He set an example by
SKETCH OF MR. KNAPP's SERMON. 83
beginning to build an ark, and during the many years
of his labor upon it, he ceased not to warn and advise
all around him. But they would not believe him.
They would, however, collect together, and look on,
and wonder, and despise, and hold long conversations
together. One would say, " Our neighbor, Noah, is a
very good, kind, well-meaning man, and a good citizen,
and it is a pity he should be led away by such strange
notions/' " Yes," said another, " he means well ; he
is pious, sincere, and benevolent, and talks to us, no
doubt, in good faith ; but he has got a strange kink in
his head, and there is no getting it out of him. I'm
afraid he will ruin himself in building this great, use-
less ship." " So am I," said a third ; " he is not only
honest and pious, but a man of excellent sense, and
very shrewd in everything but this. But he is per-
fectly deranged about this bugbear of a flood, and
I am afraid he will soon become perfectly insane.
He is evidently a monomaniac, if nothing worse."
"What a strange, inconsistent notion it is," said a
fourth, " to think that God, just as he has got his new
world well peopled, after so many years, will now
destroy all he has done, render all his labor useless,
and be obliged to begin again. No ; God understands,
and contrives, and foresees, better than all this."
"Yes," said a fifth, "our neighbor is, in the main, a
very good kind of a man, and I pity him. But I am
afraid that, by this absurd fanaticism, he will not only
injure himself, but that he will make hundreds of
others equally insane, rendering them unhappy in
themselves, and useless, if not burdensome, to their
families, and to the community. I think it might be
S4 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Well to collect a mob in the night, set fire to his use-
less ark. and drive him away from this part of the
country. " Thus they beheld, and despised, and won-
dered, till the flood came — till the predictions of Xoah
were fulfilled, and the unbelieving people, were all
drowned.
These instances, with the descriptions and expres-
sions, and novel and unexpected remarks, fixed the
attention of a crowded audience through a long dis-
course. The application and conclusion were ad-
dressed to the conscience and the feelings, in reference
to what he considered the wonderful operations of
God then going on in the city. He warned all pres-
ent not to oppose the work. He invited them to join
in it, to repent and be converted, and save their own
souls. But if they would not do this, let them not
prevent others. " For if this counsel, or this work, be
of men, it will come to nought ; but if it be of God,
ye cannot overthrow it ; lest haply ye be found even
to fight against God." " Beware, therefore, lest that
come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets :
Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish."
Such preaching did good then, and will do good
now. It brings out before the eye the pictures God's
own hand had hung along the walls of the historic
temple, for the instruction and guidance of the race.
It made the word of God a living verily. There was
no quibbling among the rank and file. The ministers
vied with each other in helping forward the work.
The church, as one man, sustained, by their presence,
cooperation, and influence, the honored chieftain who
went forth relying upon the promises of Jehovah.
RESULT OF MR. KNAPP's LABORS. 85
As a result, all classes were moved. Each one worked
over against his own house. Merchants worked with
merchants, young men with young men, women of
position with women of position. The Christian tree
bent its branches downward, and spread its branches
outward, and covered with its shadow vast multitudes.
The bold and austere manner of the preacher, the
terrible and scathing power used in exposing Uni-
versalism and kindred errors, his oddities, and yet
remarkable flights of soul-stirring and soul-awing
oratory, attracted immense multitudes, while the man-
ner in wThich he was sustained by preacher and lay-
man, the way they said c Amen ' to what was said and
done, added to the sword he wielded, the weight and
the authority of the entire church.
This was a most wonderful period in denomination-
al history. The laity that upheld the hands of the
ministry were unsurpassed in character, in talent, and
in devotion. Every church was strong, because each
church might, like the Sultan of the East, point to
her stalwart men as the walls of her defence and
the implements of conquest. It was at this period
Daniel Safford introduced Rev. E. N. Kirk, D. D.,
to Boston. It was a remarkable happen-so, even if it
were a happen-so, that Mr. Kirk followed Mr. Knapp
so frequently. One was the John the Baptist, preach-
ing repentance, and the other was the reaper. One
was the blacksmith, the other the silversmith. Said
Dr. Kirk, " I delighted to follow Mr. Knapp, because
he stirred the conscience, and made a great number
ready to listen to the truth, presented in a milder
form. They were too mad to hear him, they were
S6 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
under too deep conviction to rest content ; so many
gladly came to listen to me who might have gone,
unmoved, to perdition, had it not been for the sledge-
hammer style of Mr. Knapp." For this reason he
followed him, in Baltimore, in New Haven, and in
Boston.
From this most delightful period of revival interest
we must turn to a scene of conflict, which found its
origin in the awakened conscience of the lovers of
Christ. The life of Timothy Gilbert was interlaced
with the life of the world in many ways. Follow the
thread where you will, and it enables you to confront
sterling worth, incorruptible honesty, and an un-
flinching adherence to what he deemed right towards
God and man. The man who defended revivals, and
who was the right-hand man of the evangelist, de-
fended the slave, and for many years bore the burden
and heat of the conflict.
87
CHAPTER VI.
ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION IN THE CHURCH. THE
PROCEEDINGS OF THE MISSION BOARD AT BALTI-
MORE. EXCITING DISCUSSION. LETTER OF BARON
STOW. ORGANIZATION OF THE PROVISIONAL COM-
MITTEE. TIMOTHY GILBERT TREASURER.
The slavery agitation in the Mission Boards of our
large societies found an origin ina " Communication
from a Committee of the Baptist Ministers in and near
London, to the Board of the General Convention of
the Baptist Denomination for Foreign Missions, on
the Subject of Negro Slavery."
This communication was referred by the Board to a
committee, consisting of the corresponding secretary
and Messrs. Knowles and Stow. In their report, they
express their " satisfaction with the spirit of Christian
affection, respect, and candor which the communica-
tion breathes. They received it as a pleasing omen
of a more intimate correspondence and a more en-
deared fellowship with our Baptist brethren in Great
Britain. The committee, however, are unanimously
of opinion that as a Board, and as members of the
General Convention, associated for the exclusive pur-
pose of sending the gospel to the heathen, and to other
benighted men not belonging to our own country, we
are precluded by our constitution from taking part in
SS MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
the discussion of the subject proposed in the said com-
munication."
The resolution touching this question reads : " Re-
solved, — That, while, as they trust, their love of free-
dom, and their desire for the happiness of all men,
are not less strong and sincere than those of the Brit-
ish brethren, they cannot, as a Board, interfere with a
subject that is not among the objects for which the
Convention and the Board were formed."
The letter was dated September i, 1834, and in a bold
and fearless manner stated in full the peculiar difficul-
ties, which cannot be fully understood by persons in
other countries. The letter proceeds to explain the
difference between the political organization of the
United States and that of England, and this difference
makes it impossible to adopt a course similar to that
which the British Parliament have adopted in refer-
ence to slavery in the West Indies : " This country is
not one state with an unrestricted legislature, but a
confederacy of states united by a constitution, in which
certain powers are granted to the national govern-
ment, and all other powers are reserved by the states.
Among these reserved - powers is the regulation of
slavery. Congress has no power to interfere with the
slaves in the respective states-, and an act of Con-
gress to emancipate the slaves in those states would
be as wholly null and void as an act of the British
Parliament for the same purpose. . . . This view
of the case exonerates the nation as such, and the
states in which no slaves are found, from the charge
of upholding slavery. It is due, moreover, to the
republic to remember that slavery was introduced into
REPLY OF THE COMMITTEE. 89
this country long before the colonies became inde-
pendent states. The slave-trade was encouraged by
the government of Great Britain, and slaves were
brought into the colonies against the wishes of the
colonists and the repeated acts of some of the colonial
legislatures. These acts were negatived by the King
of England, and in the Declaration of Independence,
as originally drawn by Mr. Jefferson, it was stated,
among the grievances which produced the revolution,
that the King of England had steadily resisted the
efforts of the colonists to prevent the introduction of
slaves. Soon after the revolution, several of the states
took measures to free themselves from slavery. In
1787, Congress adopted an act, by which it was pro-
vided that slavery should never be permitted in any of
the states to be formed in the immense territory north-
west of the Ohio, in which territory the great states
of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois have since been formed.
There are now thirteen states, out of twenty-four, in
which slavery may be said to be extinct. Maryland
is taking measures to free herself from slavery. Ken-
tucky and Virginia will, it is believed, follow the
example. We state these facts to show that the re-
public did not originate slavery here, and that she has
done much to remove it altogether from her bosom.
She took measures, earlier than any other country, for
the suppression of the slave-trade, and she is now
zealously laboring to accomplish the entire extinction
of that abominable traffic.
" Since, then, from the character of our political
institutions, the emancipation of the slaves is impos-
sible, except with the free consent of the masters, it is
90 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
necessary to approach them with calm and affectionate
arguments." It was claimed that slaveholders were
better acquainted with slavery than others ; that multi-
tudes were in favor of its extinction, while some " are
not convinced that slavery is wrong in principle, just
as many good men in England, half a century since,
believed the slave-trade to be just and right." The
number and character of the two millions of slaves,
scattered over a part of the Union, with no large
military force to overawe them, and with no provis-
ions to care for the young, the feeble, and the aged,
made this subject of emancipation a problem difficult
of solution, and, " we presume that the people of Eng-
land would feel somewhat differently on the subject of
emancipation, if the slaves were among themselves,
and the perils of this moral volcano were constantly
impending over their own heads."
Mention is made of the good feeling existing among
the " multiplying thousands of Baptists throughout the
land," of their confidence in their love for Christ, of
the liberality and zeal characterizing their southern
brethren, and of the impossibility of reaching the con-
clusion that it would be right to use language or adopt
measures which might tend to break the ties that unite
them to us in our General Convention, and in numerous
other benevolent societies, and to array brother against
brother, church against church, and association against
association, in a contest about slavery.
These reasons induced the Board of Missions to
decline an interference with the subject of slavery.
" It ought to be discussed at all proper times, and in
all suitable modes. We believe that the progress of
MR. MANN OPPOSED TO ANTI-SLAVERY. 91
public opinion in reference to slavery is very rapid,
and we are quite sure that it cannot be accelerated by
any interference which our southern brethren would
regard as an invasion of their political rights, or as an
impeachment of their Christian character."
What an advanced scout is to an army, this let-
ter was to the anti-slavery conflict, which began as
the sighing of a zephyr, which grew into a tornado
that has stranded the navies of our hope, and lev-
elled in the dust the monuments of our pride. The
church was offered the front of the conflict. Right
or wrong, she judged it to be her duty to hold her
opinions on the subject of slavery in abeyance to the
paramount interests of the soul. Here was a society
engaged in promoting the spread of the gospel
throughout the world. Should the Board stop because
of a difference of opinion regarding the rights of
man? "Christ and his church habitually regarded
man as an immortal being ; and so absorbing was the
thought of his eternal destiny, that they could not stop
to discuss the minor questions of the hour." This
was the argument. Infidels have denounced both the
argument and its advocates ; and because ministers
and churches have sheltered themselves behind the
claims of missions and the requirements of the work,
Christianity has been ridiculed. But it should not be
overlooked that the reproach heaped upon the church
attests its high character and position. Horace Mann
won fame as an abolitionist, and as a defender of the
rights of human nature. Yet, ten years later, because,
forsooth, his little scheme of education was imperilled
by the conduct of Rev. S. J. May, in regard to abo-
Cp MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
litionism. he did not hesitate to write him,* when a
single pupil had left the school, " The obvious feeling
was. that it was a pity that theoretical anti-slavery
should prove to be practical anti-education, by de-
priving your school of a valuable pupil, and yourself,
to some extent, of the respect of an influential citizen."
Why did not infidels attack this position? The church
lost not only one. but oftentimes hundreds, because of
its adherence to the rights of man ; and yet because
some ministers were silent, rather than promote dis-
sension, there was no language bad enough to ex-
press the condemnation felt towards them by the
leaders of the abolition movement. The Board of
Missions cannot be compared to the Board of Educa-
tion in Massachusetts, either in the objects it strives to
promote, or the cause it endeavors to serve.
Said Mr. Mann, " I confess myself one of those who
hold the maxim to be a damnable one, that ' our actions
are our own, while the consequences belong to God.'
We cannot separate the action from the consequence,
and therefore the latter is as much our own as the
former." Mr. May, in his reply, claimed that some of
the pupils were abolitionists when they came, or were
made so by Father Peirce. To this Mr. Mann re-
plies, " Father Peirce had no right to make them so,
any more than he had to make them Unitarians, or
Bank or anti-Bank in their politics." In time Mr.
May is advertised to be one of the lecturers of an
abolition course about to be delivered in Boston.
About this, Mr. Mann writes, "Every friend of yours,
and of the cause with which you hold so important a
* Life of Horace Mann, pp. 169, 170.
MR. MANNS OPPOSITION CONTINUED. 93
connection, is pained beyond measure at this an-
nunciation. Did you not tell me, again and again,
that if the public would let you alone, in regard to
your abolition views, you thought you could get along
well enough with your friends ? But how can you ex-
pect that the public will let you alone, if they find you,
every term, making abolition speeches or delivering
abolition lectures, and exhibiting yourself as a cham-
pion of the cause in a way and on occasions which so
many will deem offensive ? You must not mistake my
motives ; and if you think I am speaking too plainly,
you must pardon it for the zeal I have in the cause." *
Those who are familiar with the earnest remon-
strances of valued Christian friends, when they have
felt the interests of souls were imperilled by intro-
ducing political questions into the pulpit, will be bet-
ter able to make apologies for them. The churches
did not indorse the position of the Board of Missions.
Professor J. D. Knowles, on his return from New York,
where he became infected with the disease which hur-
ried him to a premature grave, declared his sorrow
that he had ever written this letter of reply to the
English Baptists, as it made him appear to be what he
was not — the defender of human slavery. This was in
1838. Horace Mann's letters were written in 1843,
when the nation was rocking with agitation. It would
repay perusal could we present in detail the honor-
able part the church bore in the anti-slavery reform.
The Mission Board was formed in May, 18 14, and
commenced operations with two missionaries in the
field, providentially thrown upon their hands. It is
known that Judson and Rice sailed for India as mis-
* Life of Horace Mann, p. 172.
94 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
sionaries of the American Board. While on their
passage they were converted to Baptist views. They
landed upon a foreign shore without money and with-
out friends. When the news reached America it pro-
duced a thrill of joy in the Baptist heart. The North
and the South joined heart and soul in the wTork of
the Lord. The West was then unknown. The valley
of the Ohio and Mississippi was a terra incognita.
The weakness of the denomination made union im-
perative. United heart and hand, they had worked
together until this letter came from England. The
conscience of Christians had been aroused by the ef-
forts made to promote emancipation views in England
and in the West Indies.
At this time the war began in earnest. Three years
before, William Lloyd Garrison had commenced the
publication of the " Liberator" in New England, where
he claimed that " prejudices against the negro and
freedom were more rampant than in the South."
In 1832 he began to send forth illustrations of the
slave-locked in the arms of his wife, being beaten by
the overseer ; or of the poor slave, kneeling, eyes look-
ing towards heaven, and hands clasped, saying, " Am
I not a woman and a sister ? " The platform began to
resound with appeals ; the pulpit sounded a trumpet
which gave timely warning ; the church prepared for
action.
In 1835 a meeting was called in Ritchie Hall, Bos-
ton, " to disapprove of all denunciation, personal cen-
sure, and severity respecting any of our brethren who
may speak or act differently from the wishes of the
Board on the subject of anti-slavery." In June, 1835,
ACTION OF CHRISTIAN ABOLITIONIS
a letter was sent to the Board disapproving then
tion in withholding from publication the English lette.
and the reply.
At this time Rev. William H. Brisbane, who after-
wards emancipated his slaves, and became the leading
abolitionist of his time, was a pro-slavery editor in
Charleston, S. C, and was eager to enter into an ar-
gument to prove that slavery was a divine institution,
and was sanctioned by the Bible. Then, for the first
time, the South began to be pervaded with the thought
that the North regarded slavery as a sin against God.
Though the Board of Missions owned the " Christian
Index," published in Georgia, and was sanctioning
slavery in various ways, yet at this time the northern
religious press contained very many leading editorials,
headed, " The Bible against Slavery."
The policy adopted by the Missionary Board pre-
vailed to a large extent. The " Watchman " closed
its columns to the discussion of the question. The
" Reflector " was started in Worcester in the year
1838. It was designed to promote the glory of God
and good will to man. " Fear God and give glory to
him. All Scripture is profitable. God hath made of
one blood all nations of men," were the inscriptions
written upon this banner of truth.
In a letter written by Rev. Baron Stow to the
London Union, January 11, 1839, ne savs? —
" Among the obstacles in the way of the abolition
of slavery, I might name the inhuman prejudice
against color as the badge of servitude and debase-
ment; the peculiar organization of our government,
reserving to the states the entire control of slavery
MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
.a our own limits ; the opposition of Christians in
il the slaveholding states to abolition, and in the free
states to all agitation of the subject. It would not be
difficult to show that the influence of the American
church, at present, is the main pillar of American
slavery.
" But, my dear brother, God is on our side, and the
cause will prevail. Every day it is gaining friends,
and though less rapidly than we could wish, yet stead-
ily and surely advancing towards the desired consum-
mation. Still help us by your prayers and remon-
strances, and anticipate with us the joyful day when
republican America shall be purified of this foul and
deadly leprosy."
On January 6, 1841, the following address was re-
published at the request of large numbers North and
South. The year 1840 gave it birth, but the year
1 841 was distinguished by the influence it exerted.
To Southern Baptists.
The American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention,
holding its first session in the city of New York, on
the 28th, 29th, and 30th of April, 1840, to the Baptist
slaveholders of the Southern States : —
Fathers and Brethren : We have assembled, to
the number of one hundred and ten persons, at the
written call of seven hundred Baptists from thirteen
of the United States. Of this number, about four hun-
dred are accredited ministers of Jesus Christ.
A conviction of duty, which, we humbly conceive,
is based upon the fear of God and the love of our
APPEAL TO SOUTHERN BAPTISTS. 97
fellow-men, — whether bond or free, oppressors or
oppressed, — constrains us to submit a few thoughts
for your special and candid consideration. In doing
so, we appeal, with the firmest confidence, to the
Omniscient God for the rectitude of our intentions.
We solemnly profess a prayerful and submissive rev-
erence for the principles of his recorded will. We
feelingly avow a tender sympathy, not only for the
slave, but also for you, upon many of whom slavery is
entailed by heritage and enforced by law, while inex-
orable habits, formed in the passive state of infancy,
as well as universal usage, impose bonds upon your-
selves scarcely less strong or less oppressive than the
fetters of the slave.
Hear us, then, with patience and kindness. It is
our firm conviction that the whole system of American
slavery, in theory and practice, is a violation of the
instincts of nature, a perversion of the first principles
of justice, and a positive transgression of the revealed
will of God ; for man instinctively seeks happiness
and repels outrage, while slavery compels him to fore-
go the former and endure the latter, for himself and
his posterity, until the end of time. Justice, in its
very nature, assumes the existence of free moral
agents, mutually bound by established principles, and
acting towards each other with perfect reciprocity.
We do not speak of justice towards a " chattel per-
sonal," a horse, or a swine. But the statutes of the
South pronounce a slave a " chattel personal to all
intents and purposes whatsoever," and thus set him
beyond the pale of justice, as utterly disqualified to
assert a right and to redress a wrong.
5
9S MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Divine revelation, as committed to Moses and ex-
pounded by our Lord, teaches that pious self-love is
the only proper measure of our love towards others.
Does slavery — especially its laws which quench or
smother in the slave the light of the mind, which tear
from his agonized bosom the dearest objects of his
natural affection — conform to that rule of Holy
Writ ?
We believe that God only has the right to take
away the health, the wife, the children, or the life of
men guilty of no social crime. When man, single or
associated, uses his power for such ends, he appears
to us to arrogate to himself the prerogatives of the
Almighty, and to assume a responsibility under which
an archangel would stagger.
God, it is true, made use of the Jews to exterminate
certain heathen tribes, and to inflict upon others a
mild servitude, carefully defined and restricted. To
employ this mode of punishment, or any other that he
chose, was his unquestionable right. But where is
the Scripture warrant to apply this special license of
Jehovah for the extirpation of the human race at large,
or the enslavement of any nation in particular? This
specific direction to his oracular people is but an
exception that confirms the general rule of his Son,
" Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
The heart of the blessed Jesus was, indeed, an over-
flowing fountain of the tenderest sympathy for human
woe. Food, health, and life were his boon, never
withheld when solicited ; and the gospel preached to
the poor was the peculiar and characteristic proof of
his being the Son of God and the Saviour of the wTorld.
APPEAL TO SOUTHERN BAPTISTS. 99
No evidence exists that he ever witnessed a scene of
slavery. It is not shown that Hebrews of that day
trafficked in human flesh. The chained coffle, the
naked gang of the cotton-field, the exposed female
reeking under the lash, the child torn forever from its
mother's breaking heart, — these, and worse acts of
slavery's tragedy, were not performed, so far as his-
tory speaks, before the face of Jesus. But his warmest,
almost his only burst of indignation, is against those
who devoured the helpless widow's substance, and,
for a pretence, made long prayers and liberal contri-
butions to the cause of God.
His itinerant, inspired followers were too busy in
draining off the universal deluge of idolatry, explain-
ing the nature of the one living God, and establishing
the claims of Jesus as the true Messiah, to define, or
to condemn, in form, every species and variety of
crime, in every age, that hell, fruitful of inventions,
might suggest and fallen human nature perpetrate.
Hence, horse-racing, gambling, piracy, the rum traffic,
and the African and American slave-trade, remain un-
graduated in the Scripture scale of human sins. Paul,
however, exhorts the servants of heathen masters to
respectfulness and patience, for the reason that the
name of God be not blasphemed ; and advises them,
while patient under bondage, to prefer freedom. He
enjoins Christian masters to give their servants what
is just and equal. Do the slaves of American Baptists
obtain justice and equity? He implores his brother
Philemon to receive again the converted fugitive, not,
as he probably had been, the heathen vassal of a heathen
lord, but as a beloved brother in Jesus Christ. Thus
IOO MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
we behold, in all the Scriptures, a virtual and total
condemnation of American slavery.
Besides. American Calvinistic Baptists, as a whole
denomination, have been hitherto regarded, by the
Christian world, as responsible for the sins of Baptist
~'.nd the sufferings of o?ie hundred thou-
sand Baptist slaves. And if we fail, as many do, to
testify our abhorrence of a system that allows a fellow-
Christian to sell his brother, or his brother's wife or
child, or to dissolve the marriage tie at pleasure, we
see not how to escape the merited contempt of man-
kind, the reproaches of conscience, or the displeasure
of God. For the followers of Jesus are ordained the
light of the world, and his zvitness of the truth until
the end of time.
Further, in the exhaustion of your once teeming
soil ; the non-increase, and, in some parts, diminu-
tion of your white population ; the depreciation of
your staple products, and the competition of British
enterprise in India ; the jubilee-shout of West India
emancipation, rousing the dormant spirit of your slaves
to assert the rights of man ; your intrinsic incapacity7
of self-defence in case of foreign aggression ; your con-
stant exposure to servile insurrection and massacre ;
and in the general reprobation of republican slavery
throughout the rest of the civilized and Christian
world, — we behold indications that God attests, by
earthly signs, the precept of his heavenly oracles, to
" let the oppressed go free."
Again : if you have heard us thus far with candor,
you may perhaps inquire, ;- What would you have us
do?" We answer, "At once confess before heaven
APPEAL TO SOUTHERN BAPTISTS. IOI
and earth the sinfulness of holding slaves ; admit it to
be not only a misfortune, but a crime ; remonstrate
against laws that bind the system on you ; petition for
the guarantee, to all, of " natural and inalienable
rights." If your remonstrance and prayers to man
are disregarded, cast yourself on the God of provi-
dence and justice ; forsake, like Abraham, your father-
land, and carry your children and your households to
the vast asylum of our prairies and our wilderness,
where our Father in heaven has bidden our mother
earth to open her exuberant breast for the nourish-
ment of many sons.
Finally, — if you should (which Heaven avert!) re-
main deaf to the voice of warning and entreaty ; if
you still cling to the power-maintained privilege of
living on unpaid toil, and of claiming as property the
image of God which Jesus bought with precious blood,
— we solemnly declare, as we fear the Lord, that we
cannot and we dare not recognize you as consistent
brethren in Christ ; we cannot join in partial, selfish
prayers, that the groans of the slave may be unheard ;
we cannot hear preaching which makes God the au-
thor and approver of human misery and vassalage ;
and we cannot, at the Lord's table, cordially take that
as a brother's hand, which plies the scourge on wo-
man's naked flesh, which thrusts a gag into the
mouth of man, which rivets fetters on the innocent,
and which shuts up the Bible from human eyes. We
deplore your condition ; we pray for your deliverance ;
and God forbid that we should ever sin against him
by ceasing so to pray.
102 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
The war of words now began between the two con-
tending parties. Document met document, and letter
met letter. Every newspaper was full of " Our own
Views. " It had been a period of intense excitement
for years. Mob law took the place of civil law, and
presses which could not be intimidated by threats, and
editors that could not be silenced by argument, were
ruthlessly assailed.
On one side stood Elon Galusha, Nathaniel Colver,
Timothy Gilbert, and others like them ; on the other
stood Richard Fuller, J. B. Jeter, and others as fear-
less and as brave.
In 1 84 1 the effort was made to drop Elon Galusha' s
name from the Board of Missions. It was successful.
Joseph Sturge, of London, commissioned with an ad-
dress to the President of the United States, signed by
Thomas Clarkson, and written " in behalf of the mil-
lions of our fellow-citizens held in bondage," on his
way from a slave pen, stopped to look in upon the
Triennial Convention, and thus, in a letter to a slave-
trader writes : "In passing from the premises we
looked in upon the Convention of the Baptists of the
United States, when in session in the city of Balti-
more, where I found slaveholding ministers of high
rank in the church, urging successfully the exclusion
from the Missionary Board of that society of all those
who, in principle and practice, were known to be de-
cided abolitionists ; and the results of their efforts sat-
isfied me that the darkest picture of slavery is not to
be found in the jail of the slave-trader, but rather in a
convention of professed ministers of the gospel of
Christ, expelling from the Board of the society, formed
ADDRESS OF MR. GALUSHA. IO3
to enlighten the heathen of other nations, all who con-
sistently labor for the overthrow of a system which
denies a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures to near
three millions of heathen at home."
Rev. Elon Galusha, in his letter to Rev. R. Fuller,
Beaufort, S. C, had taken the boldest anti-slavery
position, and entered into the defence of the slave in
a manner so fearless, so kind, so eloquent that it won
troops of friends to his cause, and carried dismay to
the ranks of the foe. There were hundreds in the
Missionary Society that stood by his side. Mr. Sturge
overlooked this fact. It was common thus to cast re-
proach upon the church, and to forget that there were
more than seven thousand who never bowed the knee
to Baal. The lives of men like Gilbert, Colver, Galu-
sha, and a host of others, prove this. The history of
the American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention proves
it. The piles of anti-slavery documents establish the
fact. The denominational press proclaims it with
trumpet tone.
uYou assure us that you are content to appeal to
God in justification of slavery," said Mr. Galusha.
" You should remember that this whole nation, Chris-
tians, ministers and all, once unitedly appealed to God
for the truth you deny. They declared that all men
are created equal ; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
You dwell upon the pleasure of laboring, praying,
singing, and communing with fifteen hundred slaves,
as though that were some part or parcel of slavery,
which should commend it to our regard, or which
104 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
reconciles you to it. or justifies you in supporting it ;
whereas there is nothing in the genius, the laws, the
spirit or tendency of the institution, to produce any
such state of things, but entirely the contrary. All
which you describe as lovely is to be attributed to
humanity and religion, pushing their conquests into
the empire of slavery."
This letter abounded in facts. He spread out be-
fore the eye the fifteen hundred thousand human be-
ings whom the Presbyterian synod of South Carolina
and Georgia, by their committee, say. "will bear a
comparison with the heathen in any country in the
world." He spoke of their " own missionary (Tur-
pin). who. in giving oral instructions to the slaves.
drew forth a remonstrance signed by three hundred
and fiftv-two individuals, the ground of which was
•knowledge is power.'" and that ••intelligence and
slaverv have no affinity for each other." •• You express
fears that the church will be rent in twain by this
topic. Should it be so. will not the responsibility- rest
upon those who shall be found to love power more
than justice, to love slavery more than their brethren
whom the monster crushes, and prefer fellowship with
that system of human degradation to communion with
the church of Christ?" Notwithstanding the opposi-
tion of the South. Mr. Galusha is elected president of
the Missionary Convention of the State of Xew York
by a triumphant majority, and the feeling is. that there
will be a close fight at Baltimore, with a probability
of a split of the denomination and a division even
among the southern members.
March 24. 1S41. the executive committee of the
SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTIONS. IO5
American Baptist Anti-Slavery Society sends another
address to the South, in which slavery is held up as
a sin against God, and the violation of every natural
right of man. Rejoinders are written, and answers
come back. In the spring of 1841, the conflict culmi-
nated. The principal benevolent societies of the Bap-
tist denomination met in Baltimore, April 29, and
began their work Friday, A.M., April 30. This ses-
sion was the most important of any in its results.
After hearing the treasurer's report, the Convention
proceeded to ballot for its Board of Managers. This
election included a vote on the name of Elon Galusha.
Meetings had been previously held in Baltimore, both
public and private, where a ticket had been prepared
in which the name of every abolitionist, hitherto on
the Board (with the exception of Baron Stow), was
left off. In the minutes of the twentieth anniversary
of the Georgia Baptist Convention, page 9, there is
a reference to the action of this meeting. From this
it appears that a meeting of southern delegates was
held in Baltimore, on Monday previous to the meeting
of the Convention, in which a document signed by a
large number of northern brethren was submitted as
a voluntary expression of their sentiments. This doc-
ument determined the southern delegates to take no
action till after the election of the Board of Managers.
In this election all known abolitionists were left off
the Board of Foreign Missions. Baron Stow, a for-
mer member of the Board, had been exceptionable at
the South ; but a letter addressed by him to the For-
eign Secretary was read before the meeting of south-
ern delegates, of which a copy was preserved, and of
5*
Io6 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
which the following is the substance : u I do wholly
disapprove the denunciatory language so much in
vogue with some in regard to slaveholders. I think
it not only impolitic and inexpedient, but uncourteous
and unchristian. The address of the Baptist Anti-
Slavery Convention to southern Baptists I was dissat-
isfied with at the first reading, and refused to distrib-
ute it, as requested, among my friends of the South. I
have never been able to satisfy myself, from the New
Testament, that I ought to deny any courtesy to a Chris-
tian brother because he is a slaveholder." This com-
munication induced the southern delegates to believe
it would be impolitic to oppose his reelection. The
election came and passed, and Mr. Galusha's name
was dropped. Dr. Fuller, in the convention, declared
that he had not been instructed how to vote. It was
afterwards proved that he had been instructed by his
Association, and had failed to remember or to state
the fact.
Dr. StowT had declared himself dissatisfied with the
address of the Anti-Slavery Convention. It was after-
wards asserted that without objection he had voted to
circulate three thousand copies of that address in the
South. The letter says, " I refused to distribute it,
as requested, among my friends of the South." These
facts, spread among the churches, weakened the con-
fidence of brethren in each other, and impaired their
influence.
In August, 1 841, the Tremont Street church took
action, in which the hand of Timothy Gilbert is visi-
ble. After reviewing in detail the facts to which we
have hastily glanced, they —
ACTION OF THE TREMONT STREET CHURCH. 107
" Resolved, ist, — That the present Board are virtu-
ally pledged to the fellowship and support of slavery ;
that they have willingly given the South so to under-
stand it ; that this pledge, as it was intended, has met
and satisfied the demands of the South ; and that while
the studied and peculiar manner of doing it may for a
time succeed in blinding the eyes of many to the char-
acter of the operation, it is in reality none the less a
departure from the appropriate work of the Conven-
tion, nor any the less effectual in prostituting the moral
influence of that organization to the support of sla-
very, than if it had been done in a more frank and
official manner.
" Resolved, 2d, — That, connected as were the doings
of the Convention at Baltimore writh the above de-
fined compromise document in the rejection of brother
Galusha and others from the Board, and also with
the intimation given at the time by brother Fuller,
that it was to prevent the South from withholding
their funds, we cannot divest the transaction of the
appearance of bribery ; and that the Convention has
assumed to itself a position of dictatorship over the
disciplinary operations of the churches at once dan-
gerous to their independence, their peace, and their
purity ; and that so long as it maintains its present
position, while our interest in the cause of missions is
unabated, we are constrained, as we regard the cause
of truth and righteousness, the responsibility of the
churches to Christ, and the cause of missions itself
(which has been put in jeopardy by their transac-
tions), to seek some other channel through which our
contributions may flow to the heathen, until these af-
flictive obstructions are removed out of the way."
IOS MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Thus was sounded the note of alarm, and ground
was broken for the organization of the provisional
Committee. This was a period of intense excitement.
In the North, as in the South, men took the position,
that however right it may be to condemn slavery by
vote in a meeting of citizens, it is a sin to condemn it
by vote in a convention of Christians. "My kingdom
is not of this world " — " Render therefore unto Caesar
the things that are Csesar's" — were texts ever on the
world's broad tongue.
There was another side to'the picture. In Hamilton,
N. Y., August 17, 1841, the American Baptist Anti-
Slavery Convention, in a meeting composed of two
hundred and eight prominent Baptists, declared, —
1 . That the system of American slavery, by regard-
ing immortal men, not as sentient beings, but as things
or chattels personal in the hands of their owners, is
subversive of all human rights, and a sin against
God, who hath made of one blood all nations of men.
2. That immediate repentance of the sin of slavery
is the duty of the master, and immediate emancipation,
under the protection of law, the right of the slave.
3. That for us to extend the hand of church fellow-
ship to those who continue to practise, or in any way
justify, the system of American slavery after due gos-
pel labor, is virtually to bid them God speed, and
thus to become partakers of their evil deeds.
4. That to acknowledge slavery to be a great evil
and sin, and yet to put forth no efforts for its over-
throw, and especially to continue our unrestrained fel-
lowship with those who practise it, is palpably incon-
sistent with the obligations of the disciples of Him who
was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.
DISTINCT MISSIONARY SOCIETY. IO9
This Convention, composed of men who were true to
the slave, among whom were Jacob Knapp, Elon Ga-
lusha, John Blain, Lewis Raymond, J. L. Hodge, Cyrus
P. Grosvenor, took ground in favor of adhering to
the Triennial Convention ; but " if any cannot con-
scientiously contribute their funds through the general
treasury, we recommend them to commit such free-
will offerings to the executive committee of the Amer-
ican Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention through their
treasurer, Simon G. Shipley, Esq., of Boston." They
declared that the American Colonization Society's
enterprise not only passes by the slave, but degrades
the free negro, while it opens its arms to receive the
lowest class of white emigrants from foreign nations,
and elevates them to a participation in all the privi-
leges of our institutions.
Bold and uncompromising as were the positions
taken, they failed to satisfy the time-honored aboli-
tionists of Massachusetts. Among that number was
Mr. Gilbert. He did not believe in temporizing.
From the first he took the most ultra position, and
refused to countenance slavery in any way or form.
In his subscriptions to benevolent societies, he made
specifications that the money given should not be
used to aid in the extension of slavery, and if possi-
ble that it should be used to eradicate the evil.
In April, 1842, Rev. Nathaniel Colver publicly took
his stand in favor of a separate missionary organ-
ization. Money began to flow in for the support of
missions, without its going through the hands of the
Board. In the American Baptist Anti-Slavery Con-
vention, held in Boston, May 18, 1842, Rev. Elon
IIO MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Galusha in the chair, the following resolution passed
unanimously : —
Resolved, — "That at the commencement of the
session, this afternoon, special prayer be offered to
God for wisdom to direct."
In compliance with the resolve, prayers were offered
by several brethren in succession, which were charac-
terized by deep tenderness and solemnity. The crisis
had been reached, and the plan of the provisional
foreign committee was adopted, which, after setting
forth the grievances of those, who, "while they believed
it to be the duty of all who enjoy the privileges of the
gospel of Christ to use their best endeavors to furnish
them to those who are enshrouded in the darkness of
heathenism, — the genius of the gospel itself being that
of a missionary enterprise, intended to enlighten and
recover a lost world, — yet felt that the connection of
the foreign missionary operations with slavery was
grossly inconsistent with the principles of the gospel,
resolved to open a new channel of communication
with the heathen, and with our missionaries already in
the field, through which we may fulfil our obligation
without compromising principle or weakening our tes-
timony against the sin of slavery."
Now that the society was ready for business, Tim-
othy Gilbert stepped to the front, and was elected
treasurer, and at once set about opening a correspond-
ence with the heathen world.
The conflict now raged all along the lines. The
provisional committee was denounced, and it was ap-
plauded. Good men refused to sustain it, and good
men came to its aid. In the front of this battle of
THE CHARACTER OF THE CONFLICT. Ill
words was Nathaniel Colver. Charge upon him from
what side they chose, he was alike invulnerable. The
church now met in Tremont Chapel, under the Boston
Museum. They numbered nearly four hundred mem-
bers, and were pronounced " a devoted and efficient
body of Christians."
The decks were cleared for action. The wants of
the world abroad united with the wants of the world
at home in driving God's honored columns to seek
help from on high. This period of consecration, and
of devotion to the cause of the slave, preceded a pe-
riod of blessing such as the church has seldom been
permitted to enjoy. The fountain was made full at
home, that the stream of benevolence might flow forth
to make glad the waste places of earth.
112
CHAPTER VII.
mr. gilbert's letter-book. — reflections con-
cerning the duty of christian men and
churches to the slave absorb his thoughts.
and flame out from his correspondence.
the provisional committee at work. corre-
spondence with missionaries and others.
drs. fuller and wayland on slavery. dr.
Hague's review.
In January. 1S41. Air. Gilbert commenced preserv-
ing his more important letters. They reveal an ex-
tended and comprehensive system of benevolence, a
love for the slave that never falters, and a watchful eye
over the interests of his Masters cause.
In these letters the condition of the denomination is
mirrored. In January. 1S40. he writes. "Men and
women here, as a general thing, seem to be attending
to everything ]3ut tne one thing needful, the conversion
of the soul. The wise and foolish virgins slumber
together. We are looking and praying for a visit from
the Saviour with the influences of the Holy Spirit. At
times we have felt that he was at the door. A few
mercy drops have fallen, but when we look at the
desolations of Zion here, and in other parts of the
country, we feel the need of divine help."'
To Rev. Jacob Weston. Jamaica, he sends a box,
LETTERS FROM MR. GILBERT. II3
with cheering tidings concerning the spread of anti-
slavery views, and gives an account of a discussion in
the Kentucky Legislature.
To a missionary just starting he gives excellent ad-
vice concerning the privations to be encountered and
the work to be performed, and asks him to " consider
that these trials are but for a moment, while they
promise to work out for you an exceeding and eternal
weight of glory." Later he writes, " The cause of
emancipation in the country is onward, as the signs of
the times indicate, although most of the churches, both
North and South, are on the side of the oppressor. If
you have seen the doings of the last Triennial Conven-
tion, held at Baltimore, as reported by all except those
opposed to abolition, you will see that the Board, in
their individual capacity, have taken sides in favor of
the slaveholders, and against the abolitionists, and
have called our refusal to commune with slaveholders
' a new test of Christian fellowship.' But the Lord
reigns, and has brought, and is bringing, their counsels
to nought, and will, no doubt, carry forward his cause
by it, and thus make the wrath of man to praise him."
August 11, 1841, because of the exclusion of the claims
of the dumb and suffering slave from the columns
of the "Watchman," with regret he withdraws his
countenance and support. December 9, 1841, he
writes Rev. C. P. Grosvenor, that there is a feeling
in the minds of many brethren that another man would
be less objectionable as the editor of the " Reflector. "
On reflection he fears he may have injured his feelings,
and writes him a letter full of assurances of sympathy
and of appreciation, and adds, " Yet I am compelled to
114 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
admit that, with many, your name is objectionable. "
As a result, his name is dropped, and, in 1842, the
paper appears without a nominal editor, but under
the supervision of Simon G. Shipley, J. W. Parker,
and Clement Drew. January 29, 1842, he writes his
brother, "We are in the 'midst of a gracious revival.
The Lord is pouring out his spirit and converting
sinners. Many have, as we hope, passed from death
unto life, and many more are pressing into the king-
dom. Elder Knapp is laboring here, and his labors
have been much blessed. Although he has been
opposed by the enemies of God, yet the opposition has
been overruled for God's glory, and the work pro-
gresses. Although you are away from it, yet you are
as near the Saviour in your lonely dwelling as we are
in Boston ; and if you offer him the humble and con-
trite heart, he will just as readily own and dwell with
you there as here." February 17, 1842, he writes John
Sartain relative to the engraving of Jacob Knapp, and
makes arrangement to have it finished in the highest
style of art. Letters now follow to a relative, chiding
him for negligence and sloth ; to a friend in England,
inquiring about the character of a guest in his house,
who came a stranger in the name of a disciple ; to
dear brother John W. Wilson in Georgia, who wants
to borrow money, and who finds great trouble in
getting on in the South. August 13, 1842, he with-
draws from the committee of the Massachusetts Abo-
lition Society, for want of time to attend to its duties,
but continues his support. September 14, 1842, he
opens an account with Baring, Brother, & Co., Lon-
don, and sends one hundred pounds to Rev. Adoniram
LETTER TO DR. JUDSON. 115
Judson, as treasurer of the provisional committee,
with the following letter : —
" Rev. Adoniram Judson. Dear Brother : The
provisional foreign mission committee of the Ameri-
can Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention have voted to
appropriate five hundred dollars, to be forwarded
to you, to be expended by yourself and brother Wade
in Burmah, for the mission cause. In case you should
not sympathize with our conscientious views, you will
consult with brethren Wade and Kincaid, and if either
or both enter into our views, so far as to prefer to re-
ceive their support in whole or in part from us, they
may rely upon our remitting immediately and regularly
the requisite amount. We do not wish those who
shall elect to be thus supported, to separate themselves
from the old Board, unless they prefer it, but are will-
ing they should maintain their old relations, report
through that channel, while they acknowledge the re-
ceipt of funds from the committee. This arrange-
ment is designed to continue so long as that Board
shall maintain its present ground in favor of slavery.
Permit me to say, that nearly all of the abolition-
ists are hearty friends of the cause of missions abroad
and at home ; but while they help the heathen in India,
they are not willing to forget three millions of oppressed
heathen in America, who are forbidden access to the
Word of God, and who cannot be taught to read the
Bible except severe penalties are incurred by the
person thus guilty of instructing them. And this
wickedness is sustained by professing Christians and by
Baptists. Will not God be avenged on such a relation
Il6 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
as this? We beg you to view this subject in the light
of truth and righteousness, remembering that heathen
at home are being sold by professed Christians to ob-
tain money to send the gospel to heathen abroad."
In October he writes again, and forwards docu-
ments : ;* We hope you will candidly review this
record of the doings of the Triennial Convention at
Baltimore, and the action of our committee, and let
your testimony go forth to the churches in this country
in favor of the heathen here, as well as the heathen in
India. Surely if there is any class of men in the
world, of whom it can be said they have no helper, it
is the slave in our own country. Husbands are sepa-
rated from wives, children are torn from parents, and
yet a system legalizing these atrocities is justified by
ministers and churches who profess the religion of our
Lord Jesus Christ. O that God would influence his
servants in far distant lands to lift up a wail in be-
half of those whose cry has been stifled and shut out
because of the power of their oppressors, which has
controlled the Mission Board, and made them willing
to suppress this cry, lest the slaveholder should not
give his money and sustain their operations, as though
money could convert the heathen, while God has said,
CI hate robbery for a sacrifice' ! We do not wish
injury to the perpetrators of those deeds, but w^e ask
that they may repent their folly before they meet these
crushed ones at the bar of Jehovah. We believe that
a proper testimony from the missionaries would do
much towards setting the churches and the ministers,
and through them the nation, right, and leading our
MISSIONARY LETTERS. Il7
rulers to establish justice and righteousness in the
land."
On November 9, there appeared in the " Reflector "
a letter from Rev. D. L. Brayton, missionary at Mer-
gui, British Burmah, which indorsed the position of
the Baptist Anti-Slavery Society, and used this lan-
guage : " The awful fact that the Bible is kept from
the slave, is a consideration which has always most
deeply affected my heart. . . . Another thing I have
thought much of, is, the inconsistency of those who
say, ' We are as much opposed to slavery as you are.'
These brethren acknowledge slavery to be a sin.
Now, the Bible expressly says, ' Suffer not sin to rest
upon a brother/ The Bible commands, 4 Search the
Scriptures ; ' slavery prohibits it. My wife and self
observe the monthly concert for slaves, and feel deeply
to sympathize with you in all your opposition and toil
in this great and good work. We are happy to know
of your success thus far, and trust that the time is not
far distant when the rights of man shall be universally
acknowledged, felt, and acted out by his fellow-man."
In the same paper, Timothy Gilbert appears in print :
" A brother from Hartford informs us that one of the
authorized agents of the old Board stated that the
five hundred dollars voted to them by the provisional
committee had not been paid over, and suggested the
query, whether the committee had the funds ; and if
so, why not pay them over, as the income was small,
and the expense of agencies was great? In answer
to which, he, and all others who desire to know the
facts, are informed, that the committee never voted
either five hundred dollars, or any other sum, to the
IlS MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
old Board, but voted that five hundred dollars be sent
to the Rev. Messrs. Judson and Wade ; and they have
just received advices from the mercantile house in
London through which the money was sent, that it
has been forwarded by the overland mail to Mr. Jud-
son. The committee have seven hundred dollars on
hand, and will, no doubt, soon have missionaries of
their own in the field, unless the old Board retract
their testimony which they have given in favor of
slavery, and against those who were trying to purify
the churches from it, so that we can again cooperate
together." December 7, letters from Mrs. D. B. S.
Wade and Mrs. Sarah Judson fanned the flame which
was spreading throughout the North. " It seems to
us," said Mrs. Wade, " passing strange that any per-
son having a true missionary spirit should not, of
course, be an abolitionist. Can you suggest any plan
for benefiting those now groaning in bondage ? There
is one subject which has pressed heavily upon my
heart, and I have found relief only by carrying it, as I
do the wrongs of my poor brethren in bonds, to the
throne of grace, and that is the unkind and unchristian
spirit often manifested by abolitionists. And I fear
that this has grieved away the Spirit and presence of
God from many of those who have advocated a cause
precious in his sight. This I fear more than all the
apologists of slavery can do, for all our hope for the
poor slave is in God. It is true we are to have no
6 fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather reprove them ; ' but, then, what compassion,
what gentleness, what forbearance, what kindness,
does the situation of our poor slaveholding brethren
BARON STOWS DENIAL. II9
require from us? Ought we not to feel for them, even
as Christ did, when he wept over Jerusalem?"
" Though we live in a dark, heathen land," said
Mrs. Judson, " where our ears are daily assailed, and
our hearts constantly pained, by exhibitions of moral
wretchedness, yet this cannot drown the loud and bit-
ter cry of slavery, as it is borne to us, from time to
time, over the wide ocean, from the distant shores of
our beloved, though guilty country. The friends of
emancipation are engaged in a fearful contest, but it is
a contest of light with darkness, of justice with op-
pression, and the final victory is, therefore, certain.
A system so contrary to the spirit of our blessed
Saviour, so fraught with violence and oppression to
man, for whom he died, must inevitably give way, as
the influence of that heavenly spirit becomes more
and more prevalent."
In the same number we find a denial, from the hand
of Baron Stow, of " pledged neutrality," saying, " I
never authorized any person or persons to give any
pledge in my behalf, or to create any ' understanding '
in any mind with respect to my future course ; and I
have yet to learn how ' the southern delegation ' were
led to consider me as ; pledged ' to ' neutrality/ or as
in any sense engaged ' to have nothing more to do
with Anti-Slavery Conventions.' " The tide was
rising.
Returning to the letter-book, we find, January 10,
1843, a letter in regard to Rev. Jacob Knapp's con-
templated visit to Washington, " to attack the strong-
hold of the devil in another form from the one in
which you are engaged. I trust, if he is successful,
120 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
it will be an entering wedge, which will, with the one
you are driving, help rend asunder the bonds of
slavery. As Mr, Knapp is an avowed abolitionist,
and. among other sins, does not fail to expose slavery,
I hope you will do all you can to strengthen his hands
while among those who may, I fear, thirst for his
blood ; and if it is not too great a favor, please keep
me informed of the progress of the work."
May ii. 1S43. ^r- G. writes Rev. J. Wade, Tavoy,
Burmah, in which he communicates the fact, that
" the Female Missionary Society of the Tremont
Street church sends a bell, weighing one hundred and
fifty pounds, to be used on his chapel in Burmah ;
documents of American Baptist Anti-Slavery Society ;
and the information that the committee have seventeen
hundred dollars, which they will use to establish some
new mission disconnected with slaveholders, or for
the support of some of the missionaries now in the
field, should any of them signify a wish to receive sup-
port from such a source. The majority of the aboli-
tionists have not so much objection to receive the
money of slaveholders, as to be associated with them
in evangelizing the world, and thus, by the copartner-
ship, acknowledge them to be Christians in good
standing in the Baptist church, instead of bearing our
testimony against them, and conniving with the in-
junction. ; Come out from amongst them, and be ye
separate.' s Have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather reprove them.' Should
the whole Christian church bear their united testimony
against slavery, as against every other sin, I believe it
would soon wither under the rebuke : but so long as
MEETING OF THE FOREIGN BOARD. 121
there are slaveholders in the southern portion of our
country, and those who justify and apologize for it in
other sections, connected with and fellowshiped by
the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, where shall we
look for the salt to purify the fountain from this awful
pollution, if it is not found in the church of Christ?"
In a letter to Rev. L. Ingalls, same date, he says,
" The abolitionists think that slaveholders should not
be regarded as members in good standing in the
Baptist church, and thus object to any connection
that shall be considered as indorsing their Christian
character."
In April, 1843, the Baptist Board of Foreign Mis-
sions held its anniversary in Albany. A resolution
passed unanimously, without discussion and writh very
little remark, which, it was hoped, would afford relief
and gratification to many anxious minds. For the
first time the subject of slavery is introduced into the
report of the doings of the Board. "Whereas it ap-
pears to have been extensively understood, that by
certain transactions at Baltimore, during the last ses-
sion of the Convention, the neutral attitude of the
Board, in relation to slavery, was changed, therefore,
Resolved, — That the circular issued by the Acting
Board, in the year 1840, asserting ' their neutrality on
all subjects not immediately connected with the great
work to which they are especially appointed,' be re-
issued and printed with the report of this year, as ex-
pressive of the sentiments and position of the Board."
In that circular, the positions were taken, that the
" exclusive object of the founders of the General Con-
vention, as expressed in the preamble to the constitu-
6
123 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
tion, was to send the glad tidings of salvation to the
heathen, and to nations destitute of pure gospel light; "
that the fathers were careful to lay no obstructions in
the way of any individual contributing to its funds ;
that by the constitution the right to a seat or represen-
tation in the Convention is based on two conditions :
First, that the religious body, or the individual, be of
the Baptist denomination ; and, second, that the same
shall have contributed to the treasury of the Con-
vention a specified annual sum ; and that in regard
to the continuance of Christian fellowship between
northern and southern churches, it does not come
under their cognizance in any form, nor within scope
of the Convention with its present constitution. " The
churches are independent communities ; they can exer-
cise no authority over one another ; they have delegated
no power to individuals or associations, within the
knowledge of the Board, to act for them." In reply
to the circular of the provisional committee, Rev.
Solomon Peck, D. D., corresponding secretary, used
this language : " The neutrality of the Board has not
been yielded either at Baltimore or elsewhere. Dur-
ing the whole of our proceedings, since the first agita-
tion of the subject of slavery, it has been our earnest
endeavor, as it was our avowed policy, to mind ex-
clusively the missionary duties to which we had been
called."
On May 3, 1843, the American Baptist Anti-Slavery
Convention, among other resolves, hastened to declare
the action of the Board of Missions satisfactory, and
" provided for the continuance of the provisional com-
mittee for the purpose of making a proper appropria-
NEW MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 1 23
tion of missionary funds now on hand, and to receive
such future donations as would not otherwise be made
by those who cannot conscientiously contribute to the
support of missions through the channel of the present
Board." As a result, a new organization, known as
the American and Foreign Missionary Society, was
formed. Mr. Gilbert did not unite with it for reasons
which were to him satisfactory. u When I shall be-
come convinced," he writes to the " Reflector," " that
there is no good reason to hope that the old missionary
organization will purge itself from the charge of re-
ceiving money in such a way as to enter into a co-
partnership with slaveholders, and giving its sanction
to that wicked institution, then I shall be prepared to
abandon them, not provisionally, but forever." Au-
gust 9, 1843, a letter from Dr. Judson was published,
in which he acknowledges the money, and speaks en-
couragingly of the prospect of Mr. Chandler and others
acceding to the terms proposed. In a note, published
August 23, 1843, after regretting the unadvised publi-
cation of Dr. Judson's letter, he expresses the wish,
" that the missionaries and the anti-slavery brethren
at home should not anticipate the result of the next
meeting of the Triennial Convention, but continue to
pray, that after that meeting, no obstacle may continue
to prevent the cooperation of all the enemies of op-
pression in the missionary enterprise."
Turning now to the letter-book, we are prepared
to understand the statements made in a note, dated
September 27, 1843, and addressed to Rev. J. Wade.
" If you have written the old Board of your determi-
nation, you will, no doubt, before you receive this, or
124 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
by the same conveyance, have received a letter from
them, stating that our committee is dead ; or perhaps
thev may say the difficulty is all settled. That you
may have a true statement of the facts, I will endeavor
to give them to you in brief. At the meeting held in
Albany the Board reaffirmed their neutrality, and re-
printed the circular of 1840. As the maintenance of
neutrality was all the majority of the abolitionists re-
quired, they have done little besides reiterating their
understanding of the position taken by the Board, and
the character of the compromise made.
" A portion of the abolitionists determined to wait
another year before forming a new missionary organ-
ization, contenting themselves with the provisional
committee, which was formed to meet an emergency,
but expected to end in a permanent organization, un-
less the Triennial Convention should by an unmistak-
able vote obliterate the record which gave sanction to
the sin of slavery.
" A portion of the abolitionists thinking otherwise,
have formed a new missionary organization , to be
forever separated from the sin of slavery. I did not
enter the new organization, preferring to wait so long
as there is the least ground for hope that the difficul-
ties may be settled. In the mean time the provisional
committee will disburse funds which may be intrusted
to them.
"We feel that God requires of us to seek to purify
the churches of this awful sin, believing that the power
of the church is essential to its eradication from the
world. You ask, ' Do professing Christians keep
their slaves in ignorance of the gospel?' They most
LETTER TO MR. WADE. 1 25
assuredly do. The laws of every slave state make it
a great offence to teach a slave to read. Notwithstand-
ing this, some are taught to read in secret by those
who commiserate their condition, and have the moral
courage to do right — say perhaps one in a hundred ;
the remainder are excluded from all knowledge of the
letter of the gospel.
" Your views in relation to receiving money from
slaveholders correspond with my own. I am per-
fectly willing to receive funds, but would not solicit
them for missions from a distiller, a rum-seller, or a
slaveholder. Nor would I receive them, if by so do-
ing I should lead him to think that I fellowshipped
his sin. If I faithfully expose and rebuke his sin in
violating the law of God, then, if after this he should
offer me money for the heathen, I should receive it ;
but at the same time I should tell him that nothing
but repentance towards God, and faith in Jesus Christ,
could in any measure remove the guilt of his trans-
gression. It is not because the old Board has re-
ceived the money of slaveholders that we object to
their course, but because with the reception of the
money there has been a tacit admission of the Chris-
tian character of the slaveholder, seen in his being
placed upon the Board, and in his being welcomed as
a brother beloved in the Lord. Against this the
abolitionists protested. For this they were left off
from the Board, and the brand of public condemnation
was affixed to the name of Elon Galusha." In con-
clusion he informs the missionary that nothing he
may write to the old Board on this subject is permit-
ted to find its way to the public through the press, or
is accessible to us who may wish to learn your views."
1 26 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
In the '-Reflector" of October n. 1S43. the note
of triumph was sounded, and the intelligence is com-
municated to the public that Rev. J. Wade, of Tavoy,
has thrown himself upon the provisional committee
for support, desiring to t 1 ned separate from
the unpaid toils of the slave. " This to me is a
matter of joy and thanksgiving, inasmuch as slavery
must be driven from the church before it can be
driven from the world : and I trust that this decision
of brother Wade will ultimately do more to take away
from slavery the shield that the churches of our de-
nomination have thrown around it. than any one act.
besides, since the commencement of the anti-slavery
feeling in the land. A meeting of the provisional com-
mittee was held, and Rev. Duncan Dunbar led in
prayer. It was voted to adopt Rev. J. Wade as mis-
sionary, and make arrangements for remittance of
funds, while the letter of acceptance in which the
missionary stated the reasons for his action, was sent
to the -Reflector5 for publication." In this letter
proof has been furnished that God. by his Spirit,
worked upon the hearts of his servants in mission
lands, leading them to take a decided stand against
the foul system of slavery, which had nearly crushed
our missionary operations by its deadly embrace, while
the few devoted followers of Christ were taking a
decided stand in opposition to the on-rushing tide of
evil. His words bore the ring of the warrior and the
burning glow of a Christian's zeal. " How slave-
holders can give their money to send the gospel to the
distant heathen, and yet approve of a policv which
keeps their slaves in ignorance of the same gospel, is
MR. WADE'S ANSWER. 12>J
to me a paradox. Slavery, as it exists in America, is,
I consider, a monstrous evil, both to the master and
to the slave ; an outrage upon justice, a disgrace to
the American flag, and the reverse of all Christian
principles. I cannot suppose that it will survive the
first dawnings of the millennial age. I need not advert
to Mrs. Wade's views on this subject. It is enough to
say she is a member of a female anti-slavery society,
and will of course be gratified to know that no part
of our support is to be derived from the unpaid toil
of the slave."
" The committee pledges itself to sustain any mis-
sionary who prefers to receive his support in whole
or in part, rather than be a partaker of the contribu-
tions of slaveholders. This I prefer. I suppose the
committee means to be understood as saying it will
give the same support that the Board now gives, and
that what are termed extra expenses will be paid by
it as they now are by the Board. With these provisos
I cheerfully accept the pledge, — not that I feel so
conscientious about receiving support from slavehold-
ers that I would sooner give up my work and leave
the heathen to die ignorant of the gospel than receive
such support, for I think, though slaveholders will not
do justice to their slaves, yet the Lord has claims upon
them relative to his cause among the heathen ; but so
far as receiving such support goes to strengthen sla-
very, I wish to discard it."
In regard to the condition of affairs, Mr. W. writes,
" I felt persuaded there was some cause, besides the
hardness of the times, for the reduction of that mighty
stream, which, a few years ago, was pouring into the
I2S MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
treasury, to so diminutive a rill as at present. Why
should missionaries be recalled, schools, and other
means for evangelizing the heathen which have been
prosperously commenced, be abandoned for want of
funds, while nothing is wanting to supply them but
a proper channel through which they may flow with-
out doing violence to the conscience ? The doings of
the committee have anticipated the very thing which
I proposed to brother Kincaid to attempt, if he should
see cause for it."
Thus, it appears, the provisional committee met a
felt want of the denomination, and kept open the
channels of benevolence in regions where the sins of
a pro-slavery church had served to quench the flowing
forth of the stream from the fountains of loving and
believing hearts.
In a letter dated October 14, 1843, Mr. Gilbert ad-
dresses the following cheering words to the uncompro-
mising missionary : " The committee rejoice in the
opportunity to sustain a missionary who will join
with us in bearing his testimony against one of the
crying sins of the nation. You may rely upon it,
that your conduct will thrill with joy the hearts of
those who have sighed and cried over the abomina-
tions that are done in the land ; and we doubt not but
it will be, with the blessing of God, an important
means in bringing the churches to the decision that
slaveholding is inconsistent with good Christian char-
acter. You need have no fear but that you will be
amply sustained by those who feel opposed to the
American system of slavery.
" We wish you to understand distinctly that the old
TO MR. WADE AGAIN. 1 29
Board has studiously withheld from publication every-
thing you have written on this subject. They do not
hesitate, in many instances, to misrepresent us and our
motives, by claiming that we desire to break up estab-
lished order in society. True, there are abolitionists
who have acted with us, as well as many who have
been connected with the churches, that have gone off
in favor of woman's rights, no government, &c, &c,
but those who act with the provisional committee, as
well as the great body of the abolitionists connected with
our organization, are church-going and church-sup-
porting people, who believe and sustain the distinguish-
ing doctrines of the Bible and of the Reformation, and
are hearty supporters of those who preach Christ and
him crucified as the only hope of the sinner, and that
without any compromise with Unitarianism or Univer-
salism. While this is true of Christian abolitionists,
it may be said to be a characteristic of the pro-slavery
portion of the church that they wish to let alone the
popular sins of the day, when opposing them exposes
to public censure. For myself, — and I may say the
same thing of my brethren, — we acknowledge no mas-
ters in the flesh, and deem it our first duty to inquire
as to the will of God : if, with the best light we can
obtain, we feel that he will commend, we go forward,
feeling that, while duty is ours, consequences belong
to God. This, I think, should be the course pursued
by all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. This spirit
must animate the missionaries abroad, or their labors
will be barren of results ; for, no doubt, the policy that
makes the pro-slavery church dumb in the presence of
the Moloch of slavery, would tempt the missionary to
6*
130 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
try and win the favor of the heathen by compromis-
ing truth, in hope thereby of getting their good will,
so that by and by they might gain greater influence
over them. We hope, however, that you will never
attempt any such compromise, but will unflinchingly
do the Lord's will. We may add that your past
course gives the most unequivocal assurances of your
conduct for the future."
" As to your relations with the old Board, I will
say that there is very little probability- that they will
allow you to receive your support from us, and yet
be considered their missionary. I fear they will dis-
card vou altogether for this act, unless they entertain
a hope of your retracting in future. All we ask them
to do, is to withdraw their shield from the slaveholders,
and no longer defend or vindicate their Christian char-
acter while they cling to that sin ; but this they re-
fuse to do. They condemn our action, and stand as a
barrier between us and the slaveholders. I write this
with pain, yet fidelity to you makes a plain statement
of the case a duty. But let us rejoice because of the
presence of the Lord in our midst, and of the provi-
dences which are fast driving slavery from its hiding-
place in the church of Christ. We have much to en-
courage us in the signs of the times in this country ;
and I verily believe that those who cleave to that
abomination will soon be crushed with it, as those
were among the Philistines when Samson bowed his
head and bore away the pillars of the temple. I pray
God that he may cause his people to come out from
among the defenders of slavery, and thus purge his
church. It is the desire of the committee that har-
MR. GILBERTS DEFENCE. 13I
mony may characterize the councils and labors of the
missionary, and that there may be no strife because
of the spirit of dissension born of the discussion of
slavery at home. Be Jesus Christ's men. Let there
be no other strife than to see who shall be most like
his Master in devotion to the interests of humanity,
and in bearing an uncompromising testimony against
sin."
At this time the "Watchman" accused Deacon
Gilbert of inconsistency, because he was willing to
receive the money of slaveholders in exchange for
merchandise. In reply, he says, " I consider money
or produce, whether by the unpaid toil of the slave
or in any other way, articles that may be rightly re-
ceived for pianos or any other goods, without inquiring
as to the source from whence they come. Those ar-
ticles are neither better nor worse for passing through
my hands or the hands of a slaveholder ; otherwise we
must go out of the world for money, to get that which
we could be sure had never been paid for unrighteous
uses. It is not the money, but the price paid for it,
which makes it corrupt in the hands of the holder,
whether that price be a fellow-man or his unpaid la-
bors, or barely the extending our Christian fellowship,
as is the case with those who now receive the slave-
holder's money for missions ; for I presume it will
not be denied that the withdrawal of such fellowship
would as effectually exclude their money as a direct
refusal to receive it ; the first we are bound to do for
the benefit of the slaveholder as well as the slave, but
the last I think we have no right to do. Although
slaveholders may buy my goods, they cannot, either di-
132 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
rectly or indirectly, buy my intentional sanction to the
system of American slavery ; and if, with the knowl-
edge of this fact, they withdraw from me their patron-
age. I am prepared to forego that ; but if, with this tes-
timony against wickedness, they wish to purchase my
goods, I have no scruples about receiving their money,
as I give them a fair equivalent ; and once in my hands
it is the same as if received from any other person,
although in their hands it might have been corrupted
because of the unrighteous manner in which it was
obtained ; but now that they have exchanged it for goods
that were mine, those become the corrupted articles,
and so does every thing he may buy with it. See Deu-
teronomy xxviii. 15-21 . I further would say that my in-
fluence, and whatever income God may give me, either
from the patronage of slaveholders or any other source,
shall, according to my best judgment, be made to bear
upon that wickedness until it is driven from the church
of Christ, and from all our social or political institu-
tions ; and this I hope to do without reference to the
sneers or frowns of slaveholders or their apologists,
either at the North or South. If the American Board
of Foreign Missions will publish their condemnation of
slavery as unequivocally as this, and consistently carry
it out by withdrawing all Christian fellowship from
slaveholders, then there will no longer be cause for
continuing the provisional committee, or any other
organization disconnected with that Board ; but we
can all unite in the support of missions, and I doubt
not but every friend of the oppressed in our denomi-
nation cherishes the same view."
Mr. Gilbert's correspondence now reveals the deep-
TREMONT STREET CHURCH. I33
ening hold of the claims of his Master's cause. He
mourns over the desolations of Zion, and bewails the
worldliness creeping into the church, and fears that
" policy so intermingles with piety, that God cannot
bless his people without exalting their pride."
" A stream never rises higher than its fountain, and
it is to be feared that the cause of Christ in heathen
lands will suffer from the low state of piety here."
" A leading man in one of our churches recently
advocated building and finishing churches in such style
as " to draw in the rich, in order that we may obtain
their money to aid in the diffusion of the gospel.
But to me this did not possess the characteristics of
Christ's plan or preaching, who declared, ' The poor
have the gospel preached to them.' " Mr. G. explains
his view in regard to free-seated houses of worship, in
private memoranda, in letters, in speeches, and con-
versation. In writing to a missionary in the autumn
of 1843, he says, " This building churches for the rich
excludes the poor. They are not included in the plan.
If they attend church, they are not welcomed to the
body of the house, but are sent to the pew for the
poor, or to the gallery. This serves to banish them
from the house of God. The little church with which
I am connected is on the free-seat plan. Here the rich
and poor can meet together ; and the black and white
are entitled to the same privileges. The Lord has
so far prospered us that we have purchased the late
Tremont Theatre, and expect soon to have it ready
for use. It will seat about twenty one hundred
persons, and it is in the heart of the city, convenient
and accessible to all, cost fifty-five thousand dollars,
134 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
and will require about twenty-five thousand dollars to
fit it up, but, when complete, will have connected with
it stores and other rooms for rent, the revenue from
which, we expect, will meet the interest of the debt.
The church, because of its anti-slavery character, has
very little sympathy or assistance from the wealthier
portion of our Zion ; but God has almost miraculously
helped us, and our prospects brighten as the months
speed on."
November 16, 1843, he writes Mr. Wade, and gives
him needed information in regard to the character of
the assistants about to sail for India. " I would re-
mark that there are two missionaries and their wives,
and a Miss Lathrop, who is intended to assist Mrs.
Wade, about to sail. The latter has been prevented
from seeing me, and I have sought in vain for an in-
terview. The Missionary Board seem unwilling that
any one identified with the provisional committee
should converse with her. They fear our influence.
/ shall see her if possible. One of the men is a Mr.
Binney, who has been a pastor of a slaveholding
church in Savannah, Georgia, and in a conversation,
where I was present, about two or three years since,
proved himself to be a bitter opposer of the abolition
movement, and was what I should call one of the most
violent of pro-slavery men. If he has altered in his
views it is unknown to me. We consider that the ob-
ject of the Board in sending him out is to propitiate
the feeling of the slaveholders, in order to get them to
contribute for the support of missions ; but to us, that
seems to be paying an unwarrantable price for aid.
Unless they can assure the South that they fellowship
MR. WADE TO MR. PECK. 135
slaveholders as Christians, they cannot obtain funds in
that quarter ; and if they do thus assure them, they
provoke the divine displeasure, and divorce them-
selves from the sympathy and support of the haters of
slavery in the North." Mr. G. regrets that the Board
persists in clinging to the South. " We presume they
expect Mr. Binney to disabuse your mind of any un-
favorable impression you may have received concern-
ing the slaveholders. They utterly refuse to publish
anything from the missionaries which can offend the
South. Is it strange that God frowns upon such con-
duct?"
The following letter from Mr. Wade lays bare to
the eye the heart of this apostle to the Karens. It is
written to Rev. Solomon Peck, D. D., corresponding
secretary of the Board of Missions : —
Tayoy, April 23, 1844.
Dear Brother Peck : On the 20th of last month I
had the pleasure of receiving your letter to me in
answer to the one I wrote you requesting permission
of the Board to accept the offer of the provisional com-
mittee to provide for my personal support from their
funds. In your answer you say, " The acceptance of
your personal support from the provisional foreign
missionary committee, retaining also your connection
with the Board, is an arrangement to which the Board
cannot accede."
Permit me to ask why the Board cannot accede to it.
Has the Board adopted it as a general rule not to
accede to the proposition of any society, church, or in-
dividual, to support a missionary through the medium
136 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
of the Board, despite the wish of such missionary to re-
ceive his support in that way ? I suppose not ; and be-
lieving that the Board has some particular reasons in
this case why they cannot accede to such an arrange-
ment, I shall, therefore, waive this subject. The Board
have said they cannot accede to such an arrangement
in this case. This answer is decisive. In a letter to Mr.
Gilbert, dated January 29, 1844, I did accept the offer
of support from the provisional committee, they hav-
ing acceded to the terms which I submitted to them in
a letter dated January 27, 1843. Here, I think, the
matter must rest until I learn the results of the Tri-
ennial Convention, which meets this month. The first
remittance of the committee — one hundred pounds —
I have credited to the Board, and have drawn on the
Board for my salary and extra expenses up to the 1st
of January, 1844, which I trust the Board will ap-
prove.
Having now been informed that the Board cannot
accede to the arrangement of my drawing personal
support from the committee, yet being under the direc-
tion of the Board, I shall open accounts with the com-
mittee from the 1st of January, 1844, hoping and
praying that the results of the meeting of the Triennial
Convention will be such that myself and all the abo-
lition Baptists can conscientiously resume our former
relations with the Board. At present the reasons
which induced me to accept personal support from the
committee remain. . . . You say, " The receipt of
support or aid, from whatever source, has no necessary
connection with slavery ; and still less ought it to be
wrested into an approval or sanction of slavery." I
MR. WADE TO MR. PECK. 137
admit it ; the connection is not a ?iecessary one. As
I said in my first letter to the committee, slaveholding
brethren have a duty to perform in sending the gospel
to the heathen, from which injustice to the slave does
not excuse them. They ought to aid in the support
of missions ; and missionaries receiving support from
them do not thereby, under ordinary circumstances,
involve themselves in the sin of slaveholding. If a
man offers me money for the support of missions, I
shall not ask him whether he is a slaveholder, a dis-
tiller, a Catholic, a Mussulman, or a Christian, taking
it for granted, that, whoever he be, he does well in
wishing to promote the missionary cause ; whoever he
be, it is right for him to put his money into the treas-
ury of the Lord, " for the earth is the Lord's, and the
fulness thereof." But if he intimate that his offering
is a kind of oblation to the idol of slavery, the demon
of intemperance, the beast, or the false prophet, and
that, in taking it, I must bow to his idol, or, at least, I
must agree not to denounce it, and, so far as my in-
fluence extends, not tolerate any one who does de-
nounce it, — I would then reject it, for his sake that
showed it, and for conscience' sake, " for the earth is
the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." When slaveholders
make the exclusion of abolitionists from the offices of
the Board the condition on which they aid the mis-
sionary cause, I cannot, coitscientiously, receive sup-
port from them on this condition. Let the condition
be withdrawn, let Mr. Galusha be restored to his office
in the Board, let the question of slavery and anti-
slavery have no influence on the doings of the Con-
vention, or in the obtaining of funds, and I shall no
138 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
longer have any scruples about receiving my support
as formerly. It is the condition on which slavehold-
ing brethren pay their money which constitutes my
objections to receiving it.
The expulsion of Mr. Galusha from his office in the
Board was not, I admit, an act of the Board, as a
Board. No ; it was the act of the Convention, and I
now want to see if the Convention will not, at its.
present meeting, adopt measures which will heal the
breach made by those of their last meeting. That
they may do so, is my earnest prayer.
We have with great pleasure heard of the arrival of
the new missionaries at Maulmain, and are now daily
anticipating the still greater pleasure of welcoming
them to Tavoy.
I remain, dear brother,
Very affectionately yours,
(Signed) J. Wade.
In the letters which follow Mr. G. expresses his pleas-
ure at the reception of letters which prove that mission-
aries abroad keep step with the church at home in the
holy crusade against slavery. He speaks of the dedica-
tion of the Tremont Temple December 7, 1843, of the
capacity of the house, of the crowds of young men and
women which are gathered to listen to the searching
discourses of his pastor. Sketches of sermons are
often sent, texts are quoted, and the leading thought is
set forth. February 27, 1845, he refers to a paper
written by Rev. D. Sharp, D. D., in reply to resolu-
tions forwarded by the Alabama State Convention,
asking whether a slaveholder could receive an ap-
LETTER FROM DR. SHARP. 1 39
pointment as a missionary. The No is emphatic and
decisive, and the manliness of the reply will tell upon
the conflict now raging. It reads as follows : —
Boston, December 17, 1844.
Dear Sir : We have received from you a copy of
a preamble and resolutions which were passed by the
Baptist State Convention of Alabama. As there is a
demand for distinct and explicit answers from our
Board to the inquiries and propositions which you
have been pleased to make, we have given to them our
deliberate and candid attention. Before proceeding to
answer them, allow us to express our profound regret
that they were addressed to us. They were not
necessary. We have never, as a Board, either done
or omitted to do anything which requires the explana-
tion and avowals that your resolutions " demand."
They also place us in the new and trying position of
being compelled to answer hypothetical questions, and
to discuss principles, or of seeming to be evasive and
timid, and not daring to give you the information and
satisfaction which you desire. If, therefore, in answer-
ing with entire frankness your inquiries and demands,
we should express opinions which may be unsatis-
factory or displeasing to you, our plea must be, that a
necessity was laid upon us. We had no other alterna-
tive, without being wanting, apparently, in that manly
openness which ought to characterize the correspond-
ence of Christian brethren.
In your first resolution, you say, " that when one
party to a voluntary compact between Christian breth-
ren is not willing to acknowledge the entire social
I.fO MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
equality with the other as to all the privileges and
benefits of the union, nor even to refrain from impeach-
ment and annoyance, united efforts between such
parties, even in the sacred cause of Christian benevo-
lence, cease to be agreeable, useful, or proper." In
these sentiments we entirely coincide. As a Board,
we have the high consciousness, that it has always
been our aim to act in accordance therewith- We
have never called in question your social equality as to
all the privileges and benefits of the Foreign Mis-
sionary Union. Nor have we ever employed our
official influence in impeaching or annoying you.
Should we ever do this, " our united efforts," as you
justly say, would " cease to be agreeable, useful, or
proper."
In your second resolution, you " demand the distinct
and explicit avowal, that slaveholders are eligible and
entitled to all the privileges and immunities of their
several unions, and especially to receive any agency,
mission, or other appointment which may fall within
the scope of their operations and duties."
We need not say that slaveholders, as well as non-
slaveholders, are unquestionably entitled to all the
privileges and immunities which the constitution of
the Baptist General Convention permits and grants to
its members. We would not deprive either of any of
the immunities of the mutual contract. In regard,
however, to any agency, mission, or other appoint-
ment, no slaveholder or non-slaveholder, however
large his subscriptions to foreign missions, or those of
the church with which he is connected, is on that ac-
count entitled to be appointed to an agency or a mis-
LETTER FROM DR. SHARP. 141
sion. The appointing power, for wise and good
reasons, has been confided to the u Acting Board,"
they holding themselves accountable to the Conven-
tion for the discreet and faithful discharge of this
trust.
Should you say, "The above remarks are not suf-
ficiently explicit ; we wish distinctly to know whether
the Board would, or would not, appoint a slaveholder
as a missionary," — before directly replying, we would
say, that in the thirty years in which the Board has
existed, no slaveholder, to our knowledge, has applied
to be a missionary. And, as we send out no domestics
or servants, such an event as a missionary taking
slaves with him, were it morally right, could not, in
accordance with all our past arrangements, or present
plans, possibly occur. If, however, any one should
offer himself as a missionary, having slaves, and should
insist on retaining them as his property, we could not
appoint him. One thing is certain : we can never be a
party to any arrangement which would imply appro-
bation of slavery.
In your third resolution, you say, that " whenever
the competency or fitness of an individual to receive
an appointment is under discussion, if any question
arises affecting his morals, or his standing in fellow-
ship as a Christian, such question should not be dis-
posed of, to the grief of the party, without ultimate
appeal to the particular church of which such an
individual is a member, as being the only body on
earth authorized by the Scriptures, or competent, to
consider and decide this class of cases."
In regard to our Board, there is no point on which
I42 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
we are more unanimously agreed than that of the in-
dependence of churches. We disclaim all and every
pretension to interfere with the discipline of any
church. We disfellowship no one. Nevertheless,
were a person to offer himself as a candidate for mis-
sionary service, although commended by his church as
in good standing, we should feel it our duty to open
our eyes on any facts to the disadvantage of his moral
and religious character which should come under our
observation. And while we should not feel that it
"was our province to excommunicate or discipline a
candidate of doubtful character, yet we should be un-
worthy of our trust, if we did not, although he were a
member of a church, reject his application. It is for
the Board to determine on the prudential, moral,
religious, and theological fitness of each one who offers
himself as a missionary ; it is for the church, of which
such a one is a member, to decide whether he be a
fit person to belong to their body.
The other resolutions, which were passed in your
recent Convention, regard more your own action than
ours. They therefore call for no remarks from us.
We should have been gratified, in the present im-
poverished and embarrassed state of our treasury, if the
brethren in Alabama, confiding in the integrity and
discretion of the " Acting Board," could unhesitating-
ly have transmitted to us their funds. We have sent
out missionaries and enlarged our operations, in the
expectation that, so long as we acted in conformity
with the rules and spirit under which we were ap-
pointed, we should be sustained both by the East and
the West, the North and the South. If in this just
EFFECT OF DR. SHARP S LETTER. 1 43
expectation we are to be disappointed, we shall ex-
perience unutterable regret.
We have, with all frankness, but with entire kind-
ness and respect, defined our position. If our brethren
in Alabama, with this exposition of our principles and
feelings, can cooperate with us, we shall be happy to
receive their aid. If they cannot, painful to us as will
be their withdrawal, yet we shall submit to it, as
neither sought nor caused by us.
There are sentiments avowed in this communica-
tion, which, although held temperately and kindly,
and with all due esteem and Christian regard for the
brethren addressed, are, nevertheless, dearer to us
than any pecuniary aid whatever.
We remain, yours truly,
In behalf of the Board,
Daniel Sharp, President.
Baron Stow, Rec. Sec.
Rev. Jesse Hartwell,
President Alabama Baptist State Convention.
The effect of this document was apparent in the
North and in the South. Virginia Baptists, in full
Convention, instructed the treasurer of their State Con-
vention to pay over no more money. Other states
took similar action. The meeting of the Triennial
Convention, to be held in Providence, began to be
looked forward to with overwhelming interest, inas-
much as an attempt would be made to reverse the
decision of the Board. The provisional committee
took action on the subject, and unanimously approved
the decision of the Board, and in the last of March,
1845, issued the following address : —
144 memoir of timothy gilbert.
Address of the Provisional Committee.
At this crisis in our missionary operations, the Pro-
visional Foreign Mission Committee deem themselves
called upon to publish the following distinct expres-
sion of their views and feelings. The committee was
organized with reluctance, to meet an exigency be-
lieved then to exist. It was honestly supposed that
previous transactions had committed the Baptist Board
of Foreign Missions to the support of the institution
of slavery, so as to render further cooperation with
them a connivance at that sin. It never has been our
desire that the Convention, or its Board, should turn
aside from their appropriate work, to contend against
slavery ; all we wished was, that they would oppose
it and its claims, when, like idolatry, or licentious-
ness, or intemperance, it should seek to resist, or im-
pede, or corrupt the great enterprise of spreading the
gospel in its power and purity. Yet it was painfully
observed that slaveholders were too successfully en-
deavoring to subordinate this organization to their
aid, in opposing the free action of northern brethren
and churches against their favored institution. They
sought to compel their coadjutors here by threats of
displeasure, and a disruption in case of a refusal, to
publish to the world, either individually or officially,
directly or indirectly, that slaveholding does not dis-
qualify any one for church membership, or for the .
ministry, or for the office and work of a missionary,
and that it is no sin. And their supposed success at
Baltimore, in 1840, prevented them then ixom. with-
holding their funds and withdrawing from the Con-
vention.
ADDRESS OF THE COMMITTEE. 145
Doubtless many of our brethren were deceived re-
specting the design of those transactions, and were
thus made to contribute to results which they did not
anticipate. But if at that time the real intention of
slaveholders to subject the missionary organization to
the interests of their cherished system was not de-
tected, their recent attempt has been less successful.
Their threats of disunion, withholding funds, &c, so
often made to constrain the Board to abandon their
appropriate duties, and give countenance to slavehold-
ing, have now met with a merited rebuke. In their
last movements their aim has been sufficiently obvious
to convince even the most wavering of the character
of their former designs. But through the ordering of
Providence, and the fidelity of the Acting Board to
their convictions of duty, the South have obtained so
much testimony against their " peculiar institution/' as
will leave them hereafter in no doubt respecting the es-
timation in which slaveholding by the ministry is held
at the North. Thus they have constrained the Board
to do all that we ever desired. And we are happy
in believing and declaring, that they have thus re-
moved all cause of suspicions of any connivance with,
or responsibility for, the sin of slavery. Should the
South continue to contribute to the Board after what
has been said, we should regard such funds as those
received from irreligious men, the reception of which
does not involve the Board in the guilt of the donor.
So long as they maintain this position with that can-
dor and firmness with which it has been taken, we
feel free to say, that we shall give them our most cor-
dial support, and we believe it is the solemn duty of
7
I46 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
all who love the cause of missions, to come to their
aid with that devotion and liberality which its present
languishing condition demands. . . .
All who prefer openness and candor to concealment
and intrigue, cannot fail to honor the Board for the
manner in which they have answered the questions
lately put to them by a portion of the South. No
doubt the latter would like to reverse the decision ;
but they, as well as we, desired that a decision should
be made. From the necessity of the case, an answer
must be fatal to the hopes of one or the other party,
and prevent their continued harmonious cooperation.
But an evasion of the difficulty would have been more
so. The character and spirit of slavery, and the light
pervading Christendom, in our judgment, render a
decision inevitable. If the entire North sustain the
Board, the line will be drawn, where it belongs, be-
tween freedom and slavery. And indeed, wherever
the line may run, it will separate between those who
uphold slavery and those who refuse to do so.
To such as have felt constrained, with us, to with-
draw their direct cooperation with the Board for a
season, we say with deep sincerity and emotion, See
to it that our brethren are sustained in the honorable
stand which they have taken, and which, we doubt-
not, they will maintain. For us now to stand aloot
would be base and treacherous. Gratitude to God
for an event for which we have earnestly prayed,
should keep us from such a course. So much of the
support of the cause as has hitherto come from the
unpaid toils of the slave, will, no doubt, now be with-
held ; let this deficiency be more than made up by your
ADDRESS OF THE COMMITTEE. 147
increased liberality. Let not the Board and the mis-
sionaries suffer, because the former refuse in any way
to sanction a system of wrong which has been alike
grievous to us all. The missionaries in Burmah once
had it under consideration to request the Board to deduct
from their scanty salaries the probable amount secured
from slave labor, and it was not that they would not
have deemed privation a luxury, compared with the
thought that the means of their own support were in
part the price of some Christian brother or sister sold
into perpetual bondage, — a doom more dreadful than
death, — that this resolution was not taken.
Let this fact, and others still more plainly indicating
the harmony of their views and feelings with our own,
impel us to exert our utmost to afford hearts so noble
all they desire for their own comfort, and for the suc-
cess of that cause which we all so much love. We
entreat you to allow no partiality for contention, and
no vain excuse, to deter you from giving immediate
and convincing evidence of your sincere and firm at-
tachment to this holy enterprise. Let us remember
those who consecrated their all to it, and bear in mind
that we are no less the Lord's. Let those whose funds
have been conveyed through another channel now
promptly direct them to this. And if for any cause
any have kept back their donations, let them see to it
that they are now honestly paid over to the treasury
of Him who will not be robbed with impunity.
By order and in behalf of the Committee,
S. G. Shipley, Chairman.
Geo. W. Bosworth, Secretary.
I48 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
In the midst of increasing excitements the meetings
in May came on. The action of the Convention was
mild, temperate, and firm. The committee, of which
Dr. Wayland was chairman, to whom the Alabama
resolutions were referred, reported that,
All members of the Baptist denomination in good
standing, whether at the North or South, are constitu-
tionally eligible to all appointments emanating either
from the Convention or Board.
While this is the case, it is probable that contin-
gencies may arise in which the carrying out of this
principle might create the necessity of making ap-
pointments by which the brethren at the North would
either in fact, or in the opinion of the Christian com-
munity, become responsible for institutions which they
could not, with a good conscience, sanction.
Were such a case to occur, we would not desire
our brethren to violate their convictions of duty by
making such appointments, but should consider it in-
cumbent on them to refer the case to the Convention
for its decision.
All which is respectfully submitted, in behalf of the
committee.
F. Wayland, Chairman.
Rev. Dr. Welch opposed the reception of the re-
port, on the ground that it is too ambiguous to meet
the expectations of the denomination in this period of
earnest agitation. He remarked that we are called as
honest Christian men to meet the question, whether
the North and South shall cooperate in the great work
DEBATES ON THE RESOLUTIONS. I49
of foreign missions. He proposed to add to the report
resolutions sympathizing with the Acting Board in
their trying circumstances, and fully sustaining their
late actions.
The third article was then adopted.
Rev. Dr. Welch's resolutions were again read.
The first, which was ultimately adopted, was as fol-
lows : —
"Resolved, — That we sincerely and deeply sym-
pathize with our brethren of the Acting Board, charged
with the interests of the missions during the recess of
the Convention, in the responsibilities they sustain and
the difficulties with which they are surrounded, and
we now pledge to them our cordial cooperation and
liberal support."
The second having been again read, Rev. Mr. Jeter
arose, and stated that the South would never have par-
ticipated in forming the Convention, if they had not
supposed themselves on terms of perfect equality with
their brethren at the North. He thought it, therefore,
not improper for the Alabama Baptists to address the
Board as they did. They had, besides, some special
reasons. The Board, he remarked, "were bound to
reply ; and their reply he understood as at first, not-
withstanding all explanations. It made slaveholding
a disqualification. And as doing so it cuts off the
South from all participation in managing the affairs
of the Board. We regard the position of the Board
as unconstitutional. If they had left us an inch to
stand upon, we would have remained in cooperation
with the Board. But, said he, we have not that inch
left. We are cut off. He wished the brethren of the
I50 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
North union among themselves, and feelingly adverted
to his own position as a slaveholder by necessity,
rather than by choice. "
Rev. Dr. Williams dissented from the second reso-
lution of Dr. Welch. It seemed to him that the adop-
tion of the resolution would destroy the unity of the
report of the committee. He thought the report, as
it stood, adapted to produce a soothing effect — a
soothing effect at the South, though cooperation can-
not be maintained — a soothing effect at the North,
which would tend to harmony in this section of the
Union. He desired the separation to be relieved of
its unhappy features, and to be marked by such senti-
ments of piety and affection as should be approved
by the Holy Ghost. He thought we had done well
to pass the first resolution, expressing our sympathy
with the Board, but thought it could do no good to go
further.
Rev. Dr. Stow was opposed to the passing of this
resolution. " First, it would tend unnecessarily to exas-
perate the South. The South are about to withdraw
— let us not, said he, give bitterness to the separation.
Second, there are many in the Northern and Middle
States who do not sustain the Board, and these he
would not exasperate. And, third, the Acting Board
do not desire it ; the first resolution is all that they
desire. If the Board pledge their sympathy, and
continue their cooperation, no more is desired. The
doings of the Acting Board are before the world, and
may be left to stand or fall upon their own merits.''
On May 7, 1845, the American Baptist Anti-Slavery
Convention held its last anniversary in the McDougal
Street Baptist Church, New York.
DISSOLUTION OF THE CONVENTION. 151
Satisfied with the action of the Convention, and
convinced that their organization had been fully vin-
dicated, and that the purposes which called it into
existence had been won, it was voted " to dissolve the
provisional committee, and that the executive com-
mittee be instructed immediately to pay out all funds
in their treasury for the support of Mr. and Mrs.
Wade, or, in case of their death, that the committee
pay out these funds for the support of other Baptist
anti-slavery missionaries, and that the treasurer be
directed to receive no more funds for the purpose of
either domestic or foreign missions ; that the necessity
which called into existence this Convention is met, or
may be met, more fully by other anti-slavery organiza-
tions or moveme ats ; that the executive committee
carry into effect the resolution for the disposal of the
funds as soon as possible, and then publish that fact,
and announce the dissolution of the American Baptist
Anti-Slavery Convention."
Thus were brought to a triumphant close the doings
of a body whose influence was felt in foreign climes,
and whose noble and persistent bearing in favor of
gospel and political freedom changed the character
of our great organizations, and laid bare, to the gaze
of mankind, the impiety, the tyranny, and the mon-
strosity of American slavery. At this point Mr. Gil-
bert separated from many of his co-laborers ; they
adhering to the fortunes of the American and Foreign
Baptist Missionary Society, while he gave his unquali-
fied support to the Missionary Union from that time
on to the close of his eventful life.
Though a triumph had been won in the North, the
152 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
principles touching slavery held by men of promi-
nence were sadly at variance with his own. The
correspondence, as printed in the " Reflector/' between
Drs. Fuller and Wayland excited surprise. He felt a
contempt for the effort made to prove that Christianity
sanctions slavery. When Dr. Fuller declared, u I find
my Bible condemning the abuses of slavery, but per-
mitting the system itself," he claimed that he was
disgraced as a Baptist. In his estimation, the con-
cessions of Dr. Wayland, that " the New Testament
contains no precept prohibitory of slavery," yielded
up the ground, and permitted the southern champion
to bear oft' the palm. In 1846 William Hague, D. D.,
read before the Conference of Baptist Ministers a re-
view of the discussion, which found its way into print
in the year following, and has become memorable,
because it met the argument of Dr. Fuller by the
maintenance of positions which covered the point
that Dr. Wayland had left vulnerable.* The article
has a noteworthy history. It evidenced that too much
had been conceded to pro-slavery writers. Dr. Thomp-
son and Dr. Cheever, who examined its positions, cor-
roborated every one of them, and acknowledged their
indebtedness to. the review ; while Theodore Parker
spoke of it as being a contribution of permanent worth
to the cause of human freedom. In it the position is
affirmed that apostolic Christianity actually abolished
slavery, the relation of owner and chattel, whenever
* It is entitled " Christianity and Slavery," and may be found
in the excellent volume which has been issued by Gould and Lin-
coln under the title of " Christianity and Statesmanship."
DR. HAGUE S REVIEW. 1 53
both of the parties acknowledged the supremacy of
the law of Christ, as members of a Christian church.
Those acquainted with Mr. Gilbert's peculiar views
can imagine how he would relish this mode of han-
dling the professed advocate of the slave. We quote
from the review : " The mode in which the new dis-
pensation is supposed to have borne upon the slave
system is thus expressed by Dr. Wayland : ' By teach-
ing the master his own accountability ; by instilling
into his mind the mild and humanizing truths of
Christianity ; by showing him the folly of sensuality
and luxury, and the happiness derived from industry
and frugality and benevolence, it would prepare him,
of his own accord, to liberate his slave, and to use all
his influence towards the abolition of those laws by
which slavery was maintained. By teaching the slave
his value and his responsibility as a man, and subject-
ing his passions and appetites to the laws of Chris-
tianity, and thus raising him to his true rank as an
intellectual and moral being, it would prepare him for
the freedom to which he was entitled, and render the
liberty which it conferred, a blessing to him as well as
to the state, of which he now for the first time formed
a part.' "
This Deacon Gilbert rightly thought conceded
too much, and so he gave his assent to the utter-
ance that the statement, as made by Dr. Wayland,
" falls far short of the truth, and grants a great
deal too much." "It is yielding to the advocate of
slavery an advantage which in Dr. Fuller's hands has
been made to take on the aspect of a triumph." " All
the world confess that Dr. Wayland is an elegant
H #
154 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
writer and a strong reasoner ; but the strongest rea-
soner cannot create truth ; the highest result that he
can achieve, in a discussion like this, is to use effec-
tively the elements of truth and power with which
reason and revelation have furnished him. But, after
such a concession as this, we cannot conceive it to be
within the scope of the human intellect to impart to
the scriptural argument against slavery an appearance
of great strength. To give it force and poignancy, to
direct it with quickening and commanding energy to
the conscience of the slaveholder, are " impossible."
Dr. Hague then showed that the Epistles of Paul con-
taining the passages referred to were addressed, not
to the world at large, nor to the subjects of the Roman
empire as such, nor to men as men and citizens, but
to little communities of Christians, who had come out
from the world, and had risen above the level of
Roman law to a higher moral realm wherein Christ
swayed a sceptre of sovereignty ; unto whom, looking
up, they could say with the voice of common adora-
tion, in response to his own announcement to them,
Thou alone art our Master, and all we are brethren.
He showed that slavery had been for centuries abol-
ished among the Jews, and that the right of slave
property under Roman law did not inhere any more
in the relation of master and servant than it did in
that of parent and child. Then taking up the Scrip-
ture references, he showed that all harmonized with the
apostolic declaration, " God hath made of one blood
all nations of men to dwell upon all the face of the
earth ; " and that " for disciples of Christ there was
no need of instructions to inform *:hem that one of
dr. Hague's review. 155
their number had no right to hold the other as prop-
erty." In other words, he showed that, as the element
of chattelship, of absolute property, inhered, as a fun-
damental principle of Roman law, in the relation of
the wife to the husband and of the child to the parent,
as well as in that of master and servant, if Christianity
impliedly sanctioned slavery, or chattelship in the ser-
vile relation, it was equally sanctioned, by parity of
reasoning, in the conjugal and filial relations. Every
wife was a slave to the husband, every child was a
slave to the father, in accordance with Christianity.
The argument of Dr. Fuller proved too much, and,
of course, proved nothing. The following declaration
gave expression to Dr. Hague's thought, and in a clear
manner defined the position of the disputants : " The
man who, in the view of the civil law, is regarded as a
slaveholder, but who, in heart, abhors the system, tes-
tifies against it as unrighteous, and does what he can
to bring it to an end, is guiltless compared with him,
either at the South or North, who never owned a
slave, but who says that Christianity sanctions slavery.
The one is the unwilling victim of the system ; the
other is the voluntary advocate of a principle which, if
true, fixes on Christianity all the guilt of the system
itself. The one exerts an influence which tends to
destroy the system, the other an influence which tends
to perpetuate it. The one utters a testimony, however
feeble, in harmony with the voice of the Bible ; the
other muffles God's trumpet, so that it can pour forth
no note of warning, but only gentle sounds, which
soothe rather than alarm the conscience of the op-
pressor."
156 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
This review comforted Timothy Gilbert, and made
him a fast friend of its author. He welcomed a de-
fender of the Scriptures from the ranks of his own
denomination with greater pleasure, because men of
distinction had in his estimation disgraced themselves,
and done lasting injury to the cause of truth by fur-
nishing infidels weapons by which they might with a
promise of success assail the citadel of truth. This
argument of Dr. Hague has remained uncontroverted,
because it is uncontrovertible. It enables men who
are not scholars to be true to the oppressed without
being false to their faith in the gospel of Christ, and
proves Christianity fit to win its way through all tribes
of men, as a universal religion. It shows that the
Messiah of ancient prophecy, who was to be the De-
liverer of the oppressed and the Desire of all nations,
the Preacher of liberty to the captive, has come and
established his kingdom on the earth.
i57
CHAPTER VIII.
DEDICATION OF TREMONT TEMPLE. THE DEATH OF
MRS. GILBERT. SECOND MARRIAGE OF MR. GIL-
BERT. TRIP TO EUROPE. CONSECRATION OF HIS
PROPERTY TO THE CAUSE OF CHRIST.
The dedication of Tremont Temple to the service
of Almighty God was an event of special significance
in the life of Timothy Gilbert. On June 26, 1843, he
received the deed of Tremont Theatre, and put the
same on record. Though he had wrought manfully
in the anti-slavery cause, and, as we have seen, had
carried on an extensive correspondence with missiona-
ries, statesmen, and ministers, yet, could we have seen
the under-currents of his life, we should have found that
the one great object to which he had consecrated him-
self, was the erection of a free place of public worship in
the heart of Boston. He believed that such a building
would exert a telling influence upon the history of all
large cities, and help to stay the incoming wave of
infidelity and Romanism. His tactics were worthy
of a Grant. He determined to hold the centre of the
line, believing that all would then be well. The
crowded condition of the Baptist churches, the thou-
sands of strangers and mechanics wandering in the
streets, and uninvited and unwelcomed to the courts
of the Lord's house, touched his heart and made him
resolute in his purpose.
I5S MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
The prejudice against the negro, the vital necessities
of the poor and neglected, caused him to plan the
erection of a building whose rental should defray ex-
penses, and furnish in a hall, without cost to the
church, accommodations for a multitude sufficiently
large to make the support of a minister a burden so
light that it might easily be borne by the poorest.
He went into an estimate as to the amount which
would be required from each individual, and pub-
lished a card showing the results of one, two, three,
and four pennies, contributed each week by the stated
worshippers. .Impressed with the feasibility of the pro-
ject, he purchased Tremont Theatre for some sixty thou-
sand dollars, opened it for the service of Almighty God,
and invited Rev. Lyman Beecher, D. D., to preach the
first sermon before the theatre was changed, and then
made it ready for the uses of worship. The work was
completed, and the building was dedicated on Thurs-
day evening. December 7. 1S43. A severe snow-storm
that had prevailed during the day, and which contin-
ued with much violence in the evening, induced the
fear that few would be present. Those who are un-
acquainted with the anxiety felt by the burden-bearers
of an enterprise of this magnitude, can hardly appre-
ciate their solicitude in such an hour.
Deacon Gilbert's faith shone forth conspicuously
on such occasions. He did his whole duty, and then
trusted to God for a blessing. On this occasion, as
on many others, his faith met its sure reward. Over
fifteen hundred persons were present at the opening
of the meeting. The services were commenced with
a voluntary on the organ and anthem. The Rev. Mr.
Caldicott offered the invocation. Scriptures were
DEDICATION OF TREMONT TEMPLE. 1 59
read by Rev. John O. Choules, when the following
hymn, written for the occasion by the pastor, Rev.
Mr. Colver, was sung : —
Great God, before thy reverend name,
"Within these ransomed walls, we bow ;
Too long abused to sin and shame,
To thee we consecrate them now.
Satan has here held empire long, —
A blighting curse, a cruel reign, —
By mimic scenes, and mirth, and song,
Alluring souls to endless pain.
Fiction no more ! God's truth, at last*
Shall here portray eternal scenes ;
The gospel peal the battle blast,
Or charm with Calvary's gentler strains.
Here set thy feet, 0 Zion's King,
And send thy victories all abroad ;
Blest Dove, distil from balmy wing
The dew of life — the grace of God.
Thus let the glorious war go on,
The banner of the cross unfurled ;
Soon the last triumph shall be won>
And Christ possess a ransomed world*
Sermon, by the pastor, from John xii. 31, 32. Anthem.
Dedicatory prayer, by Rev. William Hague, D. D.
The second hymn was written by H. S. Washburn,
Esq. : —
O Thou who canst create anew,
And change the dross to purest gold,
This house — which once its votaries drew
To scenes of vice, when vice grew bold —
l6o MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Accept as thine, Jehovah, King,
New-formed and fashioned for thy praise ;
And overshadow with thy wing
The altar that to thee we raise.
And long may youth and hoary age —
Come up to worship in thy fear,
And hand, and heart, and voice engage
To bless the God of Jacob here.
O God supreme, thy power maintain,
And turn the hearts of men to thee ;
Till He whose right it is shall reign,
Lord of the heavens, the earth, the sea.
After which, the service was concluded with the bene-
diction, by Rev. Rollin H. Neale, D. D.
The " Daily Mail," in noticing it, says, " Mr. Colver
carries a very brier in his hand, and sinners must look
out or they will be touched in tender places. He is
no time-server. He preaches for eternity. There is
no half work about the worthy pastor ; he cries aloud
and spares not. His sermon was founded on the
proposition that the cross of Christ is both the pledge
and the instrumentality for the defeat of Satan's plans
and the overthrow of his kingdom. It was concluded
by a series of reflections and an argument in favor of
houses of worship with free seats." " Here, within
these walls, men of all ranks, conditions, and com-
plexions, are on an equality. The rich, the polite, the
fashionable, are welcomed, but only on condition that
the poor man, meanly attired, may occupy the seat
beside them. All, without distinction, are invited to
DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE. l6l
come up hither, listen to God's truth faithfully dis-
pensed, and worship before high Heaven."
The old building differed in many respects from the
one now occupied by the church. The lecture-room
measured eighty-eight by ninety feet. It contained
two hundred and eighty pews, measuring three thou-
sand feet in length, and would seat over two thousand
persons. But its galleries projected badly over the
audience, and it lacked the symmetry and elegant pro-
portions that go to make the hall of the present Tem-
ple the finest auditorium of its size in the world. The
chapels in the old building were not as extensive nor
as convenient as are the present rooms of the Meio-
nion and Vestry. But the edifice was an arrow-shol
ahead of anything then in existence in the United
States. It was declared to be an ornament to the
city, and the hope was expressed that it might prove
of immense advantage to the cause of truth and
righteousness. " The public and the Tremont Street
church," so says the " Reflector," " are indebted chiefly
to the enterprise and liberality of Deacon Timothy
Gilbert, for the speedy and successful accomplishment
of this noble work. Others have done what they were
able, but on no man has the burden rested so heavily,
and by no one could it have been borne more cheer-
fully than it has been by him. We congratulate him
and his coadjutors on what God has enabled them to
do, and commend the church, with its pastor, to the
blessing of Him who must build the house, or they
labor in vain who build it."
It is seldom the day of adversity is set so closely
over against the day of prosperity, as was the case on
l62 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
this occasion. While every heart was jubilant with
joy, and flooded with the radiance of hope, a cloud
was gathering over the sky of him who had climbed
to his Pisgah and had seen his Canaan. His wife,
devotedly pious, was accustomed to share with her
husband in his trials and labors and sacrifices for the
cause of Christ, not as though they burdened, but as
though they blessed her. She had entered with delight
into the work of building Tremont Temple, and with-
out a murmur saw her private fortune imperilled for
the public good. The snow-storm, though it did not
deprive the Temple of an audience, was the cause of
her sickness and sudden death. The carriage in which
she rode to church was given to one, who, in her
opinion, needed it more than herself, while she walked
home through the snow ; and that night, while her
husband was asleep, the shadow from the wing of the
death-angel fell upon the partner of his life.
Her moan awaked him. Leaping up and striking
a light, he found her suffering from paralysis. Every-
thing that medical skill could devise was tried, but in
vain. In one brief week Timothy Gilbert followed
to the grave the joy of his heart and the light of his
eyes, at the age of forty-seven years and five months.
The papers of the time bear abundant testimony to her
worth. " We might," said a friend in the " Reflector,"
" write a long eulogy upon her character and life : her
quiet, unobtrusive, ever-useful way of living makes her
pathway to heaven luminous." The number of min-
isters, missionaries, and of men, who, as youth, were
made welcome to her table, and made happy by her
society, attests her hospitality,' generosity, and worth.
DEATH OF MRS. GILBERT. 1 63
Among the number is Hon. H. S. Washburn, who
wrote this brief tribute to her character, which was
sung at her funeral, December 16, 1843 : —
Calmly to thy grave we bear thee ;
Sainted mother, take thy rest !
Tears will flow, but trust in Jesus
Shall assuage the wounded breast.
Widows mourn that thou hast fallen,
Orphans shed the bitter tear,
And the House of Zion weepeth :
Who is not a mourner here ?
Quickly from us did thy spirit
Unto glory pass away ;
But as twilight shadows linger,
Will thy blest example stay.
Calmly to thy grave we bear thee ;
Soft will be thy lowly bed ;
Tears will flow, but drops of gladness
Mingle with the tears we shed.
On February 1, 1844, there appears in the "Re-
flector" this beautiful expression of the high regard
which another entertained for her character : —
Kindness all her looks expressed ;
Charity was every word ;
Her the eye beheld and blessed,
And the ear rejoiced that heard.
Wealth with free, unsparing hand,
To the poorest child of need,
This she threw around the land,
Like the sower's precious seed.
164 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Oft her silent spirit went,
Like an angel from the throne,
On benign commissions bent,
In the fear of God alone.
Then the widow's heart would sing,
As her home with comfort smiled,
And the bliss of hope would spring,
On the outcast orphan child.
Help to all she did dispense —
Gold, instruction, raiment, food,
Like the gifts of Providence,
To the evil and the good.
Deeds of mercy, deeds unknown,
Shall eternity record,
Which she durst not call her own,
For she did them to the Lord.
Sudden, yet prepared, she died ;
And, victorious in the race,
Won the crown for which she vied,
Not of merit, but of grace.
Among the letters of condolence received are two
or three that deserve notice. On January 2, 1844, Rev.
Jacob Knapp wrote Mr. G. from Wilmington, Del.,
" We felt very sensibly the shock when we opened your
letter and read the sentence, ' My dear wife is dead.'
But, as you say, your loss is her gain. I know not that
I ever found the person in all my travels who was
more crucified to the world, more entirely consecrated
to God, more constantly and ardently breathing out
that spirit of benevolence and good will to man which
the gospel inspires, than your dear departed compan-
LETTER FROM DR. SHARP. 1 65
ion ; and you and many others have reason to be
thankful that God had spared her to you so long, that
she was permitted to see your only child brought up
and converted before she was taken from you. We
shall never forget her kindness to us. She was all
that an own mother could be to my wife, children,
and myself; and beyond all doubt she is now reaping
her reward. The time is short that remains for us to
work. Soon you will all meet again before the throne
of God, for I believe you can say it is well with me,
it is well with my wife, it is well with the child."
The following letter was received by Mr. Gilbert
from his early pastor. It shows that though they were
walking in separate paths, yet the bonds of sympathy
remained unbroken : —
Boston, December 15, 1843.
Afflicted Friend : I most sincerely sympathize
with you in your irreparable loss. May the Father
of spirits support you under this sudden and very af-
fecting bereavement. I knew your dear Mary, now
no more, from the time she was quite a young woman ;
and I do say, with truth, but with a melancholy pleas-
ure, that amid all the changes and fluctuations of life,
I have never for a moment ceased to love and respect
her for her many most excellent traits of character.
She was, in my view, distinguished for good sense,
great candor and kindness, a thoughtful consideration
of the poor, and a consistent Christian piety. She
will be a loss to the community, and a loss to the
church, of which she was an active and worthy mem-
ber, — and O, what a loss to you and your daughter !
1 66 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Well ! Be still, and know that He who hath permitted
this sad event is God.
I shall leave the city to-morrow, or I would have
attended the funeral as a token of my sincere sympathy
for you and regard for her memory.
Yours truly,
Daniel Sharp.
Mr. Timothy Gilbert.
But Mr. G. could not pause long at the grave. The
current of life swept him on, and the cause of Christ
demanded his energies and his time. He did not get
along well without a home. His daughter was at this
time away at school, and he felt alone. In the course
of time he became acquainted with Miss Alice Davis,
a member of the First Baptist Church, who became
his wife November 28, 1844. In this choice he felt,
and had cause to feel, that the Spirit of God guided
him. She made his home as happy as a home could
well be. In prosperity, as in adversity, she shared his
thoughts, heard what he wrote, knew his plans,
watched his moods, and gave him in her heart a
refuge from the storms that beset his path.
In writing to her, he reveals his indebtedness to
his first wife, his anxiety for the church, and his hope
that her influence and watchcare may stimulate him
to the better discharge of his Christian duties.
In 1846 they adopted Alice, born April 23, 1846,
and in the following year, April 27, Martha Fear
Gilbert was born. The heartiest of welcomes was
given to this last birdling. In 1851 Mr. Gilbert and
wife found relaxation in a trip to Europe, which
NATHANIEL R. COBB. 167
afforded enjoyment and rest. During his absence Mr.
G. wrote letters to the church, to his pastor, and to
his workmen, describing the scenes best calculated to
interest them.
Nathaniel Ripley Cobb, who was born near Port-
land, November 3, 1798, and who died on the 22d of
May, 1834, exerted a powerful influence upon the life
and fortunes of Mr. Gilbert. Mr. Cobb was one year
younger than his friend, had been baptized one year
later, and met him for the first time in Charles Street
Baptist Church in 1819. In 182 1, Mr. Cobb drew up
and signed the following document : " By the grace of
God, I will never be worth more than fifty thousand
dollars. I will give one fourth of the net profits of my
business to religious and charitable purposes. If I
am ever worth twenty thousand dollars, I will give
half of my net income. If I am ever worth thirty
thousand dollars, I will give three fourths, and the
whole after fifty thousand dollars." To this purpose
he religiously adhered. Mr. Gilbert, though he was
never permitted to acquire an independent fortune,
yet, as a contributor for benevolent purposes, he takes
rank with the foremost men of his time. His course
towards the poor won for him the title of " Banker for
the Poor." Hundreds deposited with him their sav-
ings. Mechanics, apprentices, and sewing women,
all felt that their money was safe in his hands.
Great numbers came to him for loans — most of
them for small amounts. Instances of young men com-
ing to borrow one hundred dollars are remembered.
He would turn from his desk, search them with his
keen black eye, inquire into the condition of their
l6S MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
business and prospects, and then, after ascertaining
their wants, would frequently rebuke them for not
planning more wisely, when, the lecture over, he wrould
place an adequate sum in their hands, and turn to his
work.
Timothy Gilbert's consecration to Christ of all he
had deserves mention. We find in his own hand-
writing a paper which reads as follows : —
" Having, as I trusty through the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ and the influence of his Holy Spirit, been
renewed and made an heir of the heavenly inheritance
which shall endure forever, and whereas, through the
blessing of God upon my efforts, and his guidance in
my business affairs, he has given me a portion of this
world's goods, and thus, with it the means of doing good
to my fellow-men, and at this time is giving indica-
tions of still greater enlargement of my pecuniary
resources, which, with the examples around me, may
tempt me to adopt a more expensive style of living
by indulging in luxuries which I now think incon-
sistent with the claims of my Redeemer, who said,
t Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God,' — I
therefore solemnly promise to hold all I now have of
this world's goods, as well as my time and my in-
fluence, as the Lord's, and to enter into no speculation
or engagement in business or expense for myself or
my family or relatives, either for travelling, recreation,
amusement, or dress, furniture, dwellings, or in any
other respect that I do not conscientiously, in the fear
of the Lord, think would be in accordance with his
will, and meet his favor and approbation, and that
I will daily ask him to guide me in all these things,
BURNING OF TREMONT TEMPLE. 1 69
and only prosper me in my business and other plans
so far as they are in accordance with his will. And I
hereby engage to my holy Redeemer, that I will volun-
tarily hold all the property I now possess of every
kind, as well as myself, subject to his will, not seeking
to lay up in store for the future wants of my family,
remembering the promise that the ' Lord will provide,'
and that if I act the part of a faithful steward, it will
be safer to trust in him for our future requirements
than in any invested earthly treasure." In like man-
ner he provided that the revenue from his business
should be consecrated to the glory of God. Beneath
the signature of our lamented brother may be found
this sentence : "I heartily concur with my husband in
the foregoing. Alice Gilbert, June 19, 1850."
At this time, be it remembered, the profits from his
business amounted to some ten to fifteen thousand dol-
lars per annum.
Under date of July 28, 1853, in pencil, it is recorded,
" Since the foregoing was written, the Lord has
greatly changed my prospects in business, has almost
entirely cut off all hope of success, has brought me
into circumstances of great pecuniary anxiety and
peril, so that my fears are excited lest I shall not be
able to pay my just debts, and thereby become bank-
rupt. Besides all this, the Lord has hidden his face
from me, so that I cannot see and behold the face of a
reconciled God and Father — cannot get a nearness to
him by prayer."
Pause here and consider the facts. In 1850 he was at
the zenith of his prosperity. We have seen him laying
his all on God's altar. The consecration was made
8
170 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
June 19. We have seen him imperilling life and
property in September of the same year in carrying
out the principle of the commandment, " Whatsoever
ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them."
Three years are gone. On the night of March 31,
1S52, Tremont Temple was burned. We have not
time to dwell upon the gloom which overspread the
church, and which overshadowed the deacon's heart.
The debt on the original building was being extin-
guished by the revenue. The church was paying
annually twelve hundred dollars towards its extinction.
What shall be done? Turn now to another memo-
randum, and we find, under his own hand, a confirma-
tion of this statement, namely : " Deacon Gilbert, to
whose sacrificing labors and untiring zeal this enter-
prise especially owed its origin, and very much of its
success thus far, urged from convictions of duty the
necessity of going forward in the work. On the 25th
of May, the foundation of the present edifice was laid.
The large Temple was first occupied on December
25, 1853. Ten years and eighteen days after the first
Temple was dedicated, the second building, grander,
larger, and more expensive than the first, was conse-
crated to the service of Almighty God."
Bear in mind that we have been reading from a
paper signed July, 1853. At the time it was written
he had placed his all in the scales for God. He had
kept his vow. Ruin was before him, but he dared not
stop, and the heaviest of all his sorrows came from the
withdrawal of the Saviour's face.
Farther on he writes, " I know he is good, and will
HIS RESOLUTION. 171
be, and that I cannot withhold an acknowledgment
of his goodness and righteousness, even if he sends me
to perdition/'
Picture the scene. There is a man, whose private
fortune is threatened, staggering under an additional
burden of two hundred thousand dollars, which is in-
creasing every moment, and yet there is no reference
to it, or to anything else he has done or. attempted.
Again he writes, " If He takes from me everything,
I beg of him not to suffer me to complain. All I ask
is, that he will permit me to pay my just debts, so that
no one to whom I am indebted shall ever suffer by me.
But more especially so that the cause of our blessed
Master may not be injured or reproached by anything
I have done or failed to do. Beyond that I commit
myself, my dear and beloved wife, my children, and
grandchildren, to the tender care of Him who careth
for us all, and who is as kind when he afflicts as when
we think he blesses us in worldly matters."
Having emerged into the sunshine, we find this
prayer : " O Lord, let it ever be the feeling of my heart
to exclaim with David, ' I shall be satisfied when I
awake in thy likeness,' perfectly pure and holy. O,
let this be my portion, and I ask no other." Again
he cries, " ' Lift thou up upon me the light of thy coun-
tenance, and let me see thy glory.' T. G."
Another memorandum, upon the top of which is
written, " This will explain itself" must follow
here : —
" Fearing that my pecuniary credit may suffer in the
event of my sudden decease, as I have reason to fear
17- MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
may happen, and as no one knows the facts of my
history as I know them, I make this memorandum,
written on the 13th of August, i860, for the informa-
tion of friends who may desire to learn the motives by
which my life was influenced : —
"When I first began in business with Mr. E. R.
Currier I had very moderate expectations, and when I
left him and we dissolved, nry anticipations were very
moderate, and even less than at first.
" But gradually die Lord prospered me ; and when,
in 1843, because I felt that God called me to do it, I,
with others, purchased the Tremont Theatre, and fit-
ted it up for a place of worship, I did it — because I
dared not do otherwise — under a deep sense of my pe-
cuniary weakness, and relying wholly upon the Lord.
To my surprise the Lord most wonderfully prospered
my business, and this enterprise, which was never in-
tended, from first to last, to be of any pecuniary benefit
to me individually, or to either of the others associ-
ated with me in the undertaking, proved to be a bless-
ing. Without ascribing undue praise to my own exer-
tions, I claim that it is not probable that either or all
of the trustees would have undertaken the enterprise
if I had not urged them on. Previous to 1852 the
Temple was in a fair way to pay its debts from its in-
come, in fifteen years there being but thirty thousand
three hundred and twenty-two dollars and eighty-five
cents remaining.
"In 1852, when the old building was destroyed, and
the question of rebuilding or abandoning the enter-
prise was to be decided, I again felt a necessity laid
upon me to rebuild, as it seemed to me to be practica-
PECUNIARY TROUBLES. 1 73
ble, although brother Gould was opposed to it, and
brother Shipley only consented providing it could be
done without his assuming any personal responsibility
beyond what was necessary to make contracts or ex-
ecute mortgages. Brother Damrell joined me in fa-
voring it, without reservation.
" When completed, the building was found to have
cost more than double the amount we had first esti-
mated. This, I found, was more than I could man-
age, even with the credit of the firm, which was freely
used with the consent of Mr. Jameson, who was my
only partner at the time. Hence I found it absolutely
necessary to sell the property to save all concerned
from bankruptcy.
" Our firm had been doing business with , of
New York, and his indebtedness had become large,
which, with the Temple debts, made it seem impos-
sible to stop with him ; and therefore we had com-
menced, and did continue, to renew his paper, and to
send him more property, hoping he would reduce
his indebtedness to us thereby, until, when he failed,
he owed us over thirty thousand dollars ; and in the
end it was a total loss of not less than twenty-five thou-
sand dollars, most of which would probably have been
saved, had we been free from the debts of Tremont
Temple, so that we might have refused to renew his
paper or send him merchandise. Fearing to so act,
lest his paper would all come upon us, we shrank
from the responsibility, and bore it as best we could."
Here is a gleam of satisfaction. " Had his failure
occurred only a few months sooner, our firm and the
whole Temple enterprise would have been involved
1/4 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
in hopeless ruin. The Temple debts were assumed
by those who took the property off our hands ; yet
there is no doubt our loss by is mainly owing
to our connection with the Temple at the same time.
" I leave this as my dying testimony, that the Tem-
ple church may know, and all others, that there was
no other alternative that I could see, but that the prop-
erty must be sold to save it from immediate ruin.
" And now our firm owes debts of honor that we
at present are wholly unable to pay or secure, owing
to our struggles with these embarrassments for years in
a dull and oppressed state of trade. We had hoped
from year to year that we might again have a return
of prosperity, such as characterized us in former years,
when our profits ranged from ten to fifteen thousand
dollars per annum.
" For more than three years past we have been hold-
ing on for some improvement in trade, and all the time
we have been losing rather than gaining in our means.
We could not stop without loss and suffering to others,
and not having lost all hope of bettering our condi-
tion, we kept on. If others are finally left to suffer by
this means, what I ask of them is, for Christ's sake, to
forgive — those of my family and friends who are left
destitute, not by extravagant living or worthless ex-
penditures, but by an honest endeavor to rescue my
affairs from misfortune and to serve God with my
means. I ask for my dear wife and children the sym-
pathy of those who have suffered by me. I have kept
nothing back for myself or family, as the Lord knows.
"T. Gilbert.
"August 16, I860."
PECUNIARY TROUBLES. 1 75
Review the scene, and behold that noble form, bent
with burdens too heavy to be borne, leaving this
record for the church and the world, and praying for
forgiveness and asking sympathy for wife and children.
There is sublimity in his humility, and grandeur in his
patience.
It is something to lose property, but more to lose
position. This was his next trial. He was elected
a director of the Boylston Bank, October 6, 1854.
Three months afterwards, January 9, 1855, ^e was
chosen president, and served the institution with great
fidelity until financial difficulties made it his duty to
tender his resignation, which was accepted November
19, i860.
Uncomplainingly he laid down the trust which had
been to him a source of mingled pleasure and profit.
He bore with him to his retirement the confidence of
the directors. They believed him to be incorruptibly
honest, kind to a fault, when it was in his power to
help a friend, and stern, if not stubborn, when some
principle was at stake which demanded protection and
support.
176
CHAPTER IX.
CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE RESIGNATION OF REV.
N. COLVER. MR. GILBERT'S CHARACTER IN A NEW
LIGHT. DEFECTS OF EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACH-
ING.— HIS VIEWS CONCERNING SALARY, AND STUDY,
AND VISITING.
History should be impartial. It seldom is. Biog-
raphies should be truthful. They seldom are. The
Bible way is the best way. That presents men as they
were. Their faults and virtues intermingle. David
sinned. We know what were the consequences and
the condemnation, Moses made one glaring mistake.
It stands forth unconcealed. A story is told of a min-
ister in Virginia who had a horse that had faults. His
black servant offered to exchange him. He started on
his mission, and chanced to come to a brook where a
stranger was watering a horse that delighted the eye
of this comzoissettr of horse flesh. He proposed a
trade. The stranger inquired the reason. The ser-
vant replied, " This horse has two serious faults."
"What are they?" " One is, my master is a minister,
and the horse is white, and every time he goes to
preach he gets covered with white hair." " Well,
what is the other ? " The African scratched his head,
and declared he did not just remember what the other
fault was. The man, supposing that it was something
CHARACTERISTICS OF MR. GILBERT. l>]>]
like the first, transferred his saddle, and exchanged
horses. The next day he brought him back in a wild
frenzy, exclaiming, " You black rascal, this horse is
blind ! " " O, yes," said the servant, " that is the other
fault."
In writing biographies many forget the great faults,
and only notice the minor ones. A man, as God made
him, means something. He is a schoolmaster, and
teaches lessons by his faults as well as by his virtues.
The character of Deacon Gilbert had its sharp cor-
ners, its obtrusive angles. He had virtues that will
keep his memory green for years, and faults that will
be remembered until this generation are in their graves.
That God's glory was secured by them, or in spite of
them, will appear.
He was an earnest advocate for special means of
grace for the conversion of souls. His pastor could
not toil too earnestly in that direction. His brethren
and sisters shared the desire. The church is revival-
loving, and in earnest. Clement Drew and Joseph
Sherwin, his associate deacons, with Nathaniel Colver,
their pastor, were men well calculated to prosecute the
harvest work.
Whenever the prospects grew dark for the cause of
truth, and the clouds of infidelity began to lower, a
day of fasting, and humiliation, and prayer was the
alternative to which they gladly turned.
In the support of a pastor he had peculiar, and, we
think, erroneous views. It was doubtless a mistake
which grew out of the organization of his nature. He
believed that the Temple could never be a resort for
the rich. He therefore acted upon the principle that
8*
I 7$ MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
it must be made the home for the very poor. He
forgot the middling classes that are liberal to a fault,
the strangers who cheerfully contribute to .the support
of the gospel, and the men of brain, of heart, and
wealth who could sympathize with his thought, and
sacrifice for the promotion of the cause which lay near
his heart.
This caused him to feel that the salary of the pastor
should never exceed a thousand dollars, and that the
residue should be provided for, by voluntary contribu-
tions. Hence, while he objected to raising the salary,
he gave cheerfully and largely for the education of the
children of the pastor, and for such other objects as
appealed to his generosity. In religious as in other
matters, he was exacting, and so became a trial to his
pastor, and oftentimes to his friends. His zeal was
quenchless. It never knew abatement. He felt that
others should be like him.
He could not understand the necessity which makes
it imperative for a minister to seek recreation in other
pursuits. Mr. Colver had an inventive genius, and
was fond of tools. Lyman Beecher sawed wood.
Nathaniel Colver got up designs for spring beds and
what not. Deacon Gilbert had little or no sympathy
with these pursuits, and would quite likely inquire as
to the condition of some sick sister or some inquiring
soul, when the pastor was in a glow over some new
invention ; thus rebuking him in his quiet and provok-
ing way for neglect. Indeed to such an extent did this
disposition lead him, that in consequence of it, more
than all else, was the first pastor of the Tremont
Street Church led to resign. The correspondence is
CHARACTERISTICS OF MR. GILBERT. 1 79
kind, and reveals the characteristics of the two men.
The one Was an eloquent extemporaneous preacher,
who had fought a good fight, who could get up a
sermon with but little trouble, who was ever ready for
a discussion, who was quick at a retort, witty when
not savage, and always open-handed and open-hearted.
He did not work three hundred and sixty-five days in
a year as he worked on some special occasions. Had
he done so, he would never have accomplished those
tasks, and ploughed those furrows in Boston which
even now ridge the past.
The other was a deacon full of one engrossing
thought. Everything • must bend to that. Business,
pleasure, society, everything was made secondary.
His hand was ever on the handle of the bellows. But
he never did, and he never could have succeeded without
the help of his giant brother, wrho toiled and rested.
Deacon Gilbert did not appreciate this fact, and so
worried the life and disturbed the peace of his pastor.
His views in regard to the management of men were,
to some extent, erroneous. He had in him a way
which sometimes seemed despotic, yet he did not wish
to tyrannize. He felt very keenly, and his feelings
would reveal themselves in unpropitious ways and at
unpropitious times. We do not claim that his pastor
was wholly in the right. That the deacon had good
and sufficient reasons for his conduct none can deny.
It is known that Mr. Colver was not at all times equal.
His very temperament made him great for an emer-
gency, and commonplace on ordinary occasions.
He will not agree with this opinion, nor will that
class who pride themselves on their ability in extern-
I So MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
poraneous speaking ; yet it remains true that a man
who speaks without a written sermon cannot retain
that freshness, that variety, that copiousness in lan-
oTiasre which the man can who writes.
The extemporaneous preacher runs into ruts, in his
divisions of his discourse, in his language, and in the
forms of expression, which would be changed at the
table with a pen in his hand. On his feet a man will
say the most forcible word, and adopt the most forcible
form of expression that occurs to him at the moment.
It is quite natural for the expression that occurred to
him the week previous to occur again. Let Dr. Colver,
with his mighty power as an expositor, and, in getting
at the i; nut" and " cracking it" and " taking out the
meat," let him preach before any audience for years,
and he will feel the need of the products which are
only gleaned on the harvest fields of a pastor's study.
This being the state of the case, Deacon Gilbert saw
in every new invention of his pastor a barrier to those
pursuits which were essential to success.
Another truth deserves to be told. Deacon Gilbert
thought that there should be more visiting done by the
pastor. The workshop, in his opinion, stood in the
way of that, and so, he claimed, inquirers were neg-
lected, and the sick were forgotten. This pained him,
and he attempted to remedy the difficulties in his own
way. That visiting must be done all admit. That a
pastor who has been settled for years in a place, learns
to neglect this duty the first of any is also true. Visit-
ing accumulates. It becomes like a mountain. In the
Temple it is a very high mountain. To see all is im-
possible. To satisfy the desire is alike impossible.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING. 151
To neglect all is the natural result. Again he felt,
that, while his pastor was mighty in the Scriptures
and in argument, his sermons lacked freshness, be-
cause he did not visit and come in contact with the
wants of the sick and poor, and that they lacked
beauty, because, though the principle of the text was
evolved, there was little of the graces of oratory which
characterized the periods of an Everett, who polished
every sentence with care, and fashioned every passage
after some classic model of excellence.
That he was right we do not affirm. That study
pays ; that ploughing in the closet helps the harvests
of the pulpit ; that there is no place in the world
where culture, fancy, imagination, toil, and erudition
yield such dividends as when employed by him who
faces from week to week an audience of intelligent,
of tired, of hungry men, is abundantly apparent.
The full houses in our large cities are the counter-
parts of full brains and full hearts. The tricks of
oratory, its studied graces, everything that allures, and
attracts, and commands when exhibited in the pulpit,
meets with a welcome from the pew.
Admitting that this statement of the case is correct,
how shall the result be reached ? By starving a man,
and finding fault with him, or by encouraging him ?
There are men who would have gone to Mr. Colver,
and said, " Sir, you have mighty powers of oratory.
Your imagination is brilliant. Your capacity to visit,
to administer to the social wants of the people, and to
exert an influence over your ministering brethren is
immense. Please bend every energy to the fulfilment
of your mission, and we will place your salary where
I S3 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
your living need not enter into your thoughts." Adopt
such a course, and there is not a minister on earth
who knows Christ but would concentrate every power
of his mind and heart.
The opposite course wras pursued. Advice was given,
questions were asked, at times when no man could
bear it, as, for instance, when about entering the pulpit
or prayer-meeting ; and then, to add to all the rest,
the salary was raised in spite of, rather than wTith, the
consent of the one who gave the advice. The follow-
ing gives an insight to his views concerning the subject :
" I have frequently, and that recently, said that you
deserved a large salary, as much and more than any
of the ministers in the city ; for no one that had even
two thousand dollars gave away as much as you did,
and did not entertain so many of the poor ministers
from the country ; and, if it could be raised, I should
with all my heart advocate your having it. But I have
never thought your salary should have been raised
above twelve hundred dollars, and have never voted
for the increase when made, yet have always said I
was willing to pay my proportion even of the advance,
and should undoubtedly in some way have done some-
thing myself for you, if it had not been raised, as I
did while it was only one thousand dollars. I still
think it was a mistake in raising it. I well remember
that one of the causes that operated in my own mind
as an objection to raising it was that I feared it would
be the cause of your removal. Knowing that more than
nine tenths of all our members did not get even one half
of twelve hundred dollars to support their families upon,
therefore I believed, and I think the sequel has proved
pastor's salary. 183
me correct that it would be harder to get our members
who are poor to do what they could if your salary was
fifteen hundred dollars than it would if it was twelve
hundred dollars or less. And I sincerely and conscien-
tiously think that while our church and congregation are
composed of the class it now is and must necessarily be,
until the debt of the house is so reduced as to make that
easy, the salary should never exceed one thousand dol-
lars. After the debt is provided for, there may be more
of a temptation for persons of property to join us. Until
then one thousand dollars is the highest salary we ought
to think of paying, and, if any can give as individuals be-
sides, let them do so. It was with these views I helped
in educating when you first came among us, so as
to keep the salary at least nominally lower, and experi-
ence convinces me that I was correct in my judgment."
These were his views. It is unfortunate that he
cherished them, both because of the influence they
exerted upon others and upon himself. When it was
shown him that Tremont Temple could never be made
a success in this way, he readily abandoned the main
features of his plan. He saw that it was easier to
support a man who can command a large salary than
it is to support one of the opposite class. Though the
majority of the people worshipping in a free-seated
house of worship may be poor, it does not follow that
they are mean. The young men who throng the gal-
leries are ever ready to respond to appeals for aid, as
was repeatedly shown during the war. They spend
money for pleasure, for society, and are quite as will-
ing, if not more willing, to consecrate a portion of
their earnings to the support of the cause of Christ.
I S4 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
The character of the congregation seems not to have
been understood. When, under the new regime, it
was proposed to raise the large proportion of the
salary by subscription, none were more surprised than
were the oldest worshippers at the Temple when the
returns came in which provided an income of over
five thousand dollars to meet current expenses. When
the claims of societies which had hitherto been ig-
nored were presented, the subscriptions in their behalf
reached a large sum. When the echoes of the guns
at Antietam disturbed the quiet of the Sabbath, and
caused the cry to run from church to church, that
worship should be suspended, and that the worship-
pers should betake themselves to the preparation of
lint, Tremont Temple was thrown open, and the prod-
uct of the labor there bestowed found its way earliest
to the battle-field. Afterwards, when Washington was
beleaguered with foes, and the call came for minute
men for action, the pastor explained the want, and two
hundred men before Monday noon were enrolled for
action. When the Christian Commission issued their
call for aid, the subscription of the Temple stood
grandly forth among the larger contributions for that
worthy object. These facts reveal the character of
the congregation, and prove that they can sustain any
man who commands their respect and love. The gen-
erous policy begets a generous spirit. It is no more
difficult to make it fashionable to give than it is to
make it popular to withhold. Mr. Gilbert was liberal
to a fault himself, but had learned to doubt the lib-
erality of others. When at last the church rallied
round the banner, and placed their choicest gifts on
HIS HAPPINESS. 185
God's altar, and pledged their pastor a generous sup-
port, and led off in all generous acts and deeds, none
were happier, and none were in advance of Timothy
Gilbert. His smiling face, his joyous speech, and
thankful prayers revealed his appreciation of God's
goodness to the Temple of his love and the people
of his choice.
i86
CHAPTER X.
RESIGNATION OF REV. NATHANIEL COLVER. TRE-
MONT TEMPLE BURNT. A DESCRIPTION OF THE
NEW TEMPLE. DEACON GILBERT'S VIEW OF THE
ENTERPRISE.
In 1852 Nathaniel Colver tendered his resignation
as pastor of the Tremont Street Church. On the 30th
of March he sent away his goods to Abington, and
came to pass the night at the house of Deacon Gilbert.
That night, at one o'clock, the bells rang the alarm
for fire, and before four o'clock the Tremont Temple
was in rains.
" Who fathoms the Eternal Thought?
Who talks of scheme and plan ?
The Lord is God. He needeth not
The poor device of man."
Turning to the diary of Deacon Gilbert we natu-
rally look for a murmur. We find it not. Is there
no compunction of conscience? None. What was
right yesterday is right to-day. Here is the record : —
" This morning, about one o'clock, Tremont Tem-
ple took fire, and was a heap of ruins by four A. M.
Went down in the forenoon to T. Gould's, and met
with trustees. — Evening. Church met at my house
— from forty to fifty present."
NEW TREMONT TEMPLE. 1 87
Thursday he agitates the question of rebuilding.
Friday the question is considered in a full meeting.
Sabbath, Rev. N. Colver preaches his farewell ser-
mon, in Marlboro' Chapel. Now begins his march
from bank to insurance office, from trustees to archi-
tect. His private business is neglected, and all for
this.
On Wednesday, April 7, the church hold a church
meeting at his house, and vote to refer the matter of
rebuilding the Temple to the trustees. What say
the trustees? Here is the record in his own hand,
and it shows that while others faltered he moved
on : —
" Brother Gould was opposed to it. Brother Ship-
ley only consented providing it could be done without
his assuming any personal responsibility beyond what
was necessary to make contracts and execute mort-
gages. Brother Damrell joined me in favoring it with-
out reservation."
This encouraged him. Day after day he is moving
from point to point ; now attending to the clearing
away of the ruins, now cheering on the halting, now
arranging his affairs with the bank and consulting with
his lawyer. On May 25 we find this entry: " This
day commenced laying foundation to the new Tremont
Temple."
On the 25th of August, 1852, Deacon S. G. Shipley
died ; and from this time his burdens increased. Each
day you can see the walls are rising. He holds the
measure and marks the progress made. On Decem-
ber 25, 1853, the Tremont Temple was consecrated
to public worship. A description of this building
iSS MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
furnishes a bird's eye view of the achievement won.
Let us begin with
The Exte7'ior of the Tremont Temple.
Immediately opposite the Tremont House — and so
near it that, when the walls of the old Temple fell into
the street, the front of the hotel had a narrow escape —
stands " The Stranger's Sabbath Home." Of a rich and
warm brown tint, produced by a coating of mastic, it
presents a peculiarly substantial and elegant frontage.
It is seventy-five feet in height, and with the exception
of ten feet by sixty-eight, which is left open on the
north side for light, the building covers an area of
thirteen thousand feet.
The walls are massive and of great strength, vary-
ing in thickness from thirty-six inches to sixteen inches,
and, in accordance w^ith the most approved mode of
building, are hollow. This, of course, insures great
proportional strength, dry inside walls, a saving in
furring and lathing by admitting of plastering upon
the bricks, a prevention of the ravages of vermin, and
greater resonance and adaptation to music in the walls
of the large halls. It will be at once evident that this
method, also, to a very considerable extent, obviates
all danger of fire spreading, as it often does, and did
to the destruction of the old Temple, between the plas-
tering and the wall. Wherever, in the new building,
it has been found necessary to use furring and plaster-
ing, layers of brick have been placed to cut off all
chance of fire spreading between the plastering from
one story to another. The floors, too, have, as we
shall, by and by, more particularly notice, a thick coat-
EXTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE. 1 59
ing of mortar between the upper and under courses
of boards, as a protection against the spread of fire,
and to prevent the transmission of sound.
The summit of the Temple is crowned by a lofty
cupola, and under it runs a bold and handsomely de-
signed cornice. Immediately below the cornice are
five arched recesses or niches, and under these the
same number of lofty windows that light the front
apartments, to be hereafter described. At the street
level are four fine stores. In the centre is the princi-
pal entrance door, painted in imitation of dark oak.
The whole external appearance is imposing, and the
building is worthy of the city of which it is at once
an ornament and a convenience.
The Entrance.
Passing through the great central door-way, we find
ourselves in a spacious lobby or entrance hall. On the
first floor we observe, on our right, and on the first
landing, the ticket office, and a broad flight of stairs on
either hand, each of which, at its summit, terminates
in a landing, from whence, to right and left, diverge
two flights of similar staircases, one landing you in
the centre of the main hall, and the other to the rear
part and the gallery.
The Main Hall,
Or The Temple, as many style it from long-accus-
tomed habit, although, in fact, it forms but one por-
tion of it, is a commodious and magnificent audience-
room. The utter absence of gilding and coloring on
its walls renders it far more imposing and grand in
I90 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
appearance than if it had been elaborately ornamented
With auriferous and chromatic splendors. The follow-
ing are its dimensions : It is one hundred and twenty-
four feet long, seventy-two feet wide, and fifty feet high.
Around the sides of it runs a gallery supported on
trusses, so that no pillars intervene between the spec-
tator and the platform to obstruct the view. The front
of this gallery is balustraded, and by this means a
very neat and uniform effect is secured. The side gal-
leries project over the aisles below about seven feet.
They are fitted with rows of nicely cushioned and
comfortable seats, and are not so high as to render the
ascent to them wearisome in the least degree. The
front gallery, though it projects into the hall only ten
feet, extends back far enough to give it more than
three times that depth, and when filled with spectators,
as it is on the Sabbath from week to week, presents
a truly magnificent spectacle.
Directly opposite this gallery is the platform, with
its gracefully panelled, semicircular front. This plat-
form, covered with a neat oil-cloth, communicates with
the side galleries by a few steps, for the convenience
of the choir. There are also several avenues of com-
munication from the platform to the apartments, dress-
ing-rooms, &c, behind, which are exceedingly con-
venient, and are far superior to the places of exit and
entrance from, and to, any other place of the kind that
we have ever seen.
From the front of the platform the floor of the hall
gradually rises, so as to afford every person in the hall
a full and unobstructed view of the speakers or vocal-
ists, as the case may be. The seats in the galleries
DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE. 191
rise in like manner. The seats on the hall floor are
admirably arranged in a semicircular form from the
front of the platform, so that every face is directed to-
wards the speaker or singer. They are numbered uni-
formly, have iron ends, are capped with mahogany,
and are completely cushioned with a drab-colored ma-
terial. Each slip is capable of containing ten or twelve
persons, with an aisle at each extremity, and open
from end to end.
The side walls of the hall are very beautifully orna-
mented in panels, arched and decorated with circular
ornaments, which it would be difficult properly to de-
scribe without the aid of accompanying drawings ;
but as views of the interior of the Temple have be-
come common, the omission here will be of little con-
sequence. As we intimated, there is no fancy col-
oring ; it is a decorated and relieved surface of dead
white, and the effect, lighted as it is from above by
large panes of rough plate glass, is beautifully chaste.
The only color observable in the hall is the purple
screen behind the diamond open-work at the back of
the platform, and which forms a screen in front of the
organ. The effect of this solitary "bit" of coloring
is remarkably fine.
The ceiling is very finely designed in squares, at the
intersections of which are twenty-eight gas-burners,
which, with strong reflectors, and a chandelier over the
orchestra, shed a mellow but ample light over the hall.
By this arrangement, the air, heated by innumerable
jets of gas, is got rid of, and the lights themselves act
as most efficient ventilators. The eyes are likewise
protected from glare ; and should an escape of gas
ig2 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
take place, from its levity it passes up through shafts
to the outside, and does not contaminate the atmos-
phere below. Under the galleries are common burn-
ers. There are for day illuminations twelve immense
plates of glass, ten feet long by four feet wide, placed
in the ceiling in the spring of the arch, and open di-
rectly to the outer light, and sixteen smaller ones un-
der the galleries.
The whole of the flooring of the hall, in the gal-
leries, the body of it, and of the platform, consists of
two layers of boards, with the interstices between them
filled by a thick bed of mortar? The advantages of
this, in an acoustical point of view, must be obvious
to all. Another advantage is, that the applause made
by the audience in this great hall does not disturb the
people wrho may at the same time be holding a meet-
ing in the other hall below — a very important con-
sideration. Now, on the occasion of an outburst of
enthusiasm above, only a slight indication thereof is
heard in the lesser hall.
There are eight flights of stairs leading from the
floors of the main hall, and four from the galleries,
the aggregate width of which is over fifty feet.
Of the ventilation of this great hall we shall speak
under its appropriate head. We would, however, di-
rect attention to the ingenious contrivance at the back
of the front gallery, by means of which the foul air is
carried off.
Office Entrance and Private Passage to the Halls.
On the south side of the building is an entrance-way
about seven feet wide, under the head of offices, where
DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE. 1 93
also may be seen the names of the occupants and the
number of their rooms, which leads to all the depart-
ments of the Temple. When the public halls are not
occupied, access can be had to any of the apartments
through the main entrance, if desired, but at all times
through this passage way.
Boston Young Men's Christian Association.
These beautiful rooms are up one flight of stairs, and
are admirably adapted for their present uses and oc-
cupants, and are rented by the Association for sixteen
hundred dollars per annum, though it is estimated that
they are worth, at least, twenty-five hundred dollars ;
but the Temple is controlled by a society who were
very desirous that a religious association should oc-
cupy them.
The committee of the Young Men's Christian Asso-
ciation, in a late report, say, " We are now in a build-
ing well known, easily found, and convenient of ac-
cess to all the city. We have halls for our lectures in
the same building, and on very favorable terms. We
are only one story from the ground. We have a large
reading-room, a library-room, and three other rooms,
for prayer meetings, committees, &c. The central sit-
uation of these rooms will also enable the committee
to carry out a plan they have matured, for bringing
the clergymen of our city more to the rooms, and mak-
ing them better acquainted with each other. The plan
is, to have the mail matter of all our clergymen brought
to our rooms at all suitable times of the day, and there
distributed into boxes, for each one ; so that the clergy
can get it at that place as conveniently as at the Post
9
194 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Office, while, at the same time, they can have the ad-
vantages of the reading-room, and of seeing each other
daily. They can also answer their letters there, the
proper conveniences being always ready. We shall
thus become a sort of religious exchange — the head-
quarters of all the clergy, not only of our city, but of
New England. The clergymen generally are glad to
come into the arrangement, and we hope for good re-
sults to our society and to Christian union from it." *
On entering this suit of rooms, we first come to
that one occupied as a library. Behind substantial
railings are shelves filled with books. Next to that
is a large and handsomely furnished reading-room,
where, on convenient stands, are arranged various
newspapers ; and on the walls hang superb engrav-
ings, mostly of scriptural subjects. On the table lie
magazines and journals, and in the most comfortable
of chairs their contents may be studied.
Beyond the reading-room is a committee-room, and
a room in which religious services are held weekly.
The whole of the arrangements, it must be perceived,
are admirable. This suit, then, consists of a central
room, forty-eight feet long by thirty feet wide, with
two side rooms, each about thirty feet by fifteen, and
two smaller rooms, about fifteen feet by seven, with
closets and other conveniences. These rooms extend
entirely across the front of the building, and open
upon a balcony which commands a very extensive
view.
Altogether it would be difficult to find a more con-
venient and beautiful suit of rooms in our city, for the
* This scheme has been abandoned.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE. 1 95
purposes of the Association. Back of these, on the
same story, are eight large and fine rooms, averaging
about twenty-six feet by sixteen, well lighted, and fur-
nished with closets and other conveniences. Over the
rooms of the Christian Association, front, there are
five rooms of good size, about twenty-five by fifteen
feet, suitable for artists ; and at the sides, over the stair-
ways, there are six other similar rooms.
The organ was built by Messrs. Hook, whose repu-
tation forms a sufficient guarantee for the excellence
of the instrument.
Let us leave now the splendid great hall, and pay a
visit to
The Meionaon,
The main entrance to which is through the north-
erly passage way, opposite the doors of the Tremont
House ; this avenue is about seven feet wide. The
southerly passage way, elsewhere described, serves as
an outlet from this Lesser Temple.
Perhaps the reader, who may not have been initiated
into the mysteries of Greek literature, may thank us
for a definition of this strange-looking word, Meionaon.
It is so called from two Greek words ; melon, signify-
ing less, smaller, and naon, temple — lesser temple.
It should be pronounced mi-o-na-on. This lesser tem-
ple is situated back from the street, and directly under
the great hall. It is seventy-two feet long by fifty-two
feet wide, and about twenty-five and a half feet high :
not so elaborately adorned as its neighbor overhead,
this hall is rented by the church, and is used for the
Sabbath school and weekly meetings.
I96 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
The Vestry.
In front of this hall, and on the same level, is a
large and very commodious vestry, having two en-
trances, opposite which is the Social Hall, or large
parlor, used by the church for social purposes, and
where the leading laymen of the denomination meet
monthly with invited guests, to greet each other as
brethren in the Lord, and consult together regarding
the general interests of the denomination.
Fire- Room.
Outside the main wall of the building, and below
the level of the street, is what is called the fire-room.
This may be termed the centre of that great circulat-
ing system by means of which the building is heated.
Here is a large cylindrical boiler, from which pipes
proceed and ramify in all directions over the vast
building ; the water, after it has performed its " mis-
sion," being brought back again to be re-heated and
re-sent upon its round. A steam pump is here erected
to supply the boiler, &c.
Ventilation.
Perhaps the most noticeable feature in the Tremont
Temple is the thorough and perfect manner in which
it is warmed and ventilated, the trustees being deeply
impressed with the importance of providing a hall for
the use of the public, that should, in all respects, be
comfortable and agreeable, determined to spare no
pains or expense in having the ventilation of the rooms
thorough, and the temperature such as the most deli-
DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE. 1 97
cate invalid or robust citizen could not find fault with.
In order to render the building secure against fire, it
seemed desirable to warm the entire establishment,
containing no less than thirty rooms, besides the great
hall, with a single fire. To do this, that mighty agent,
steam, was called upon ; and well and handsomely does
it respond. A large boiler, in a remote corner of the
premises, not under the main building, and which we
have before referred to, generates steam, which is car-
ried through the conducting pipes into brick chambers
of various shapes and sizes, all filled with iron pipes.
Into these chambers, or reservoirs of heat, cold air is
introduced through large conductors, whose external
terminations are near the top of the building, remote
from the dust and noxious vapors of the street. After
having received its proper degree of warmth, and been
rectified in its hygrometric qualities, this air is admit-
ted, through large trellised openings, to the halls and
other apartments.
Into some of the rooms the steam pipes are intro-
duced directly, and after coiling themselves around the
room a few times, go on their way into other rooms.
Thus each room is warmed independently of the oth-
ers. Indeed, the supply of heat to all the rooms and
various parts of the building, is placed under the most
perfect control by means of valvesy so that in each
room the temperature may be graduated with mathe-
matical accuracy, without at all interfering with the
temperature of any other room.
In order to make the ventilation copious and relia-
ble, there are large air shafts over flues at the corners
of the hall, terminating at the roof, through which, by
I9S MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
means of steam heat, a constant upward current is
obtained ; and into these shafts, or flues, all the heated
and impure air of the room is constantly discharged,
so that, though the great hall may be packed with
human beings, yet the constant introduction of fresh,
warm, pure air, floating over the audience like a gen-
tle zephyr of the tropics, and the as constant ejection
of impure air, cause the atmosphere of the rooms to
have a delightful freshness and elasticity.
As there is no red-hot iron to burn the air before
it enters the room, as is generally the case with hot-
air furnaces, and as the steam pipes afford an admi-
rable facility for purifying the air, as well as heating
it, the temperature of the room is not unlike that of a
green-house, filled with fragrant plants. And what
are human beings, with lungs of the most delicate
organization, but plants of a heavenly growth? too
often, alas, " nipped in the bud" by being obliged to
breathe an atmosphere deprived of its vitality by
fire, or poisoned by impurity ! Is it not strange that
so little attention has been paid to this system of
combining heat and ventilation for our public build-
ings ?
Too much praise cannot be awarded to the parties
by whom this work in the Tremont Temple was
planned and executed — Messrs. James J. Walworth
& Co. It is one more proof of the success which
seems to have invariably attended their efforts in this
novel and interesting method of heating, and they have
certainly succeeded in rendering the Tremont Temple
the most comfortable, as it is the most unique and
beautiful, room of the kind, in our city.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE. 1 99
Ante-rooms, &c.
Both the large and small halls have attached to them
ante-rooms, where, on the occasion of concerts, or
other exhibitions, the vocalists or performers may
dress or repose. These are fitted up with every requi-
site that can be imagined. Those for ladies are situ-
ated on one side of the platform, and for gentlemen
on the other, and all needful privacy is secured. There
are many other apartments in the building, well situ-
ated for artists and dentists.
T7ie Cupola.
In making our way thither, we travel o\er the ceil-
ing of the great hall, dropping our heads as we pass
beneath roof and rafter, to save our hat and skull,
and beholding beneath our feet a great net-work of
gas-piping connected with the burners of the hall un-
der us. In long rows are square ventilators, which
discharge their streams of vitiated air on the outside.
The cupola forms a spacious observatory, glazed all
round, and from every window is obtained a charm-
ing view, the whole forming one of the most superb
panoramas that we ever witnessed. From this ele-
vated spot may be seen the adjacent villages and
towns, the harbor and its islands, the city institutions,
churches, houses, and shipping. In short, the whole
city and its vicinity lie at our feet.
Ge7teral Survey.
We have thus gone through this vast building, but it
would be impossible to give the entire details of every
200 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
part in a sketch of this kind ; nor is it necessary. It
would be an unpardonable omission, however, did we
omit to state that the skilful architect, under whose
direction it has arisen, is Mr. William Washburn —
a gentleman well known for great ability in his diffi-
cult profession.
Everything used in the construction of the Temple
appears to be of the best kind. The chief carpenter
work and finishing was done by George Nowell & Co. ;
the painting by Mr. Thaddeus Stone ; and the plaster,
stucco, and mastic work outside, by Mr. Joseph Kings-
ley ; mason work by Carlton Parker.
Statistics of Tremont Temple*
The following particulars, respecting the origin and
financial arrangements of this great building, are au-
thentic, and cannot fail to be of interest.
The original object of those who have been most
interested in the Tremont Temple enterprise has been,
and still is, to keep open a place of public worship on
the Sabbath, with free seats, for the young persons
who are constantly coming to the city for employment,
a large portion of whom are unable to procure seats
in other churches, and therefore spend their Sabbaths
by walking about the city and its vicinity, and in that
way coming in contact with the idle and the vicious,
are drawn into the paths of vice, and, by degrees, to
crime, degradation, and ruin. It is mainly to save this
class that this place is opened, and also for the stran-
gers who visit it for temporary purposes.
But the enterprise has become of much greater
importance, prospectively, by the building of the
DESIGN OF THE ENTERPRISE. 201
new Temple, as may be seen by the following state-
ment : —
The estimated income from the present stores and
offices, together with the income of the large halls,
will not be likely to fall short of ten or twelve thou-
sand dollars per annum, over the current expenses.
This, when all the debts are paid, is all to be given
away for charitable objects, not less than one half of
which must be expended in the city, for the wants of
the poor, and the other half may be expended in the
same way, or for other objects specified in the deed of
trust by which it is held. It is estimated that the in-
come will pay all current expenses, and the interest
on one hundred thousand dollars, to which it is the
purpose of the trustees to reduce the debt, and leave
a sinking fund of not less than four thousand dollars
per annum, which will pay the whole debt in less than
twenty years ; and this estimate is made, leaving the
gratuitous use of the parts occupied for religious wor-
ship out from the calculation, thus, from this time,
providing a large, central, and inviting place of wor-
ship, with seats free, all lighted, warmed, and kept
in repair, and, prospectively (probably within twenty
years) , providing more than the interest of a two hun-
dred thousand dollar fund to feed the hungry, to clothe
the naked, to supply the wants of the destitute, for
annual distribution, and all this without any person
giving for such a fund.
It is, however, provided in the trust deed, that any
donations that may be made shall be appropriated for
the extinguishment of the debts, unless otherwise or-
dered by the donors.
9 *
202 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Cost of Building and Furniture.
The cost of the building, including heating apparatus
by steam, was not far from one hundred and sixty thou-
sand dollars, and the furniture, including organs, not
far from fifteen thousand dollars.
Management of the Property.
The property is under the entire and absolute con-
trol of trustees, elected annually by representatives
of Baptist churches, who are controlled by the pro-
visions of the trust deed.
The Union Temple Church are bound by the pro-
visions of the deed forever to maintain public worship
on the Sabbath, with free seats, without using any part
of this income for that purpose ; and if they do not so
maintain public worship, a minority of said church are
authorized to organize for that purpose, and enjoy the
benefit of this trust in the same manner.
" We should be sorry to close this brief notice of
the Tremont Temple without specially alluding to the
church, which, in fact, formed the nucleus of the en-
tire fabric."
"Ina city like Boston, the importance of such an in-
stitution cannot well be overrated. It not unfrequently
happens that a stranger in the city, on the Sabbath day,
finds it no very easy matter to obtain a sitting in one
of our crowded places of worship ; and we ourselves,
on more than one occasion, have had to stand, either
lingering in the aisle until our legs ached, before the
pew-opener deigned to notice us, or to remain on our
feet during an entire service. We have heard that a
THE FRJEE CHUHCH. 203
visitor to a certain church not a hundred miles from
the city of Boston, once, on finding that no one heeded
him as he stood in the aisle, left the building and re-
turned with a chair, on which he calmly rested him-
self— a quiet commentary on the want of common
civility on the part of the officials. Now, all such in-
conveniences as these may very easily be avoided by
going to the church in Tremont Temple, where every
seat is free to whoever may choose to take it."
" A free church ! There is something noble and beau-
tiful in the very sound ! Free as air — free as ocean
waves — free as the everlasting gospel which is preached
within its walls ! Free to all ! As none were exempted
in the great invitation of the Saviour, so to this free
church all are invited and are welcome. No grim sex-
ton stands in the aisle, to survey you from head to foot
as you stand waiting his pleasure, and unless you be
genteel, will not let you come " between the wind and
his nobility," or usher you into a pew. No purse-proud
occupant of a seat that he only enjoys, though there be
room and to spare for half a dozen more, looks com-
placently at you as he lolls on his cushions ; but instead
of this, you walk quietly to any unoccupied place, and
take it as your right. This is as it should be ; and
well may the strangers in Boston bless the benevolence
of those who fitted up this beautiful place for their ac-
commodation." *
Mr. G.'s diary and private correspondence give us
* The above description is in part taken from an article by
George W. Bungay, first published in the " Waverley Magazine
and Literary Messenger."
204 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
an insight to the burdens imposed upon him, and the
loss he sustained in the death of Deacon Shipley.
Impressed by the favoring providences which helped
him in carrying forward his work, tried by the course
pursued by the architect, disappointed if not dejected
by the manner in which the bills exceeded the bids, he
finds relief and comfort alone at the throne of grace.
In 1853 the Temple was finished and dedicated, and
the following paper was written in July of the same
year, and left as an evidence of his desires and wishes
regarding the use to be made of it : —
" I, Timothy Gilbert, having been the principal in-
strument that the Lord has used in purchasing, refit-
ting, and again in rebuilding, the Tremont Temple,
do hereby leave upon record my desires and wishes
concerning the same, and what I believe to be the will
of God, who has so signally blessed and favored the
enterprise from its commencement. And I hereby
wish it to be remembered that this is not the work of
Timothy Gilbert, he being only the instrument in the
hands of God, used to carry forward His own benevo-
lent designs, and that the Tremont Street Church have
no cause to exult, but rather to inquire, ' Lord, what
wilt thou have us to do ? ' for never was there a church
placed under greater responsibilities than devolve upon
this people, who are called upon, by their position
and the circumstances which environ them, to see
to it that the whole enterprise shall be carried on for
the advancement of the cause of truth and morality,
and not for the pecuniary benefit or honor of any
individual or individuals ; and I hereby leave this as
my solemn conviction, that whenever the time shall
MR. GILBERT'S DESIRE. 205
come when no one will carry on this enterprise for
the love they bear to the cause of Christ and without
pecuniary reward, then the glory of Tremont Tem-
ple will have departed. Then let the church clothe
themselves with sackcloth, and fast and pray until the
Lord will raise up and qualify one or more to do this
work, and to say, ' Lord, here am I ; take me, and use
me for that service ; ' otherwise darkness will overshadow
the enterprise from that time forward. Let the church,
having the benefit of this trust, guard against even in-
dulging for a moment the desire or wish to use any
part of the income for the ordinary support of a pas-
tor, lest that wish or desire should be seen, by Him who
looks on the heart, to grow out of the selfish desire to
shirk the burdens of the Lord's house, and thus make
them guilty of wishing to offer to the Lord ' that which
costs them nothing.' Let the church adhere to the
conditions of the charter or deed ; and whenever a
doubt arises as to its meaning and intent, let them
construe it in favor of the poor who are to be benefit-
ed by the income, and not to relieve themselves from
the slightest responsibility.
" Let them also conscientiously consider this in all the
uses they may make of the income, in all alterations and
repairs, in letting or refusing to let, and act conform-
ably to the principle that they are stewards of the
Lord's family, and must give an account to Him who
put them into the stewardship. Let every one who
shall undertake to steady the ark or conduct the enter-
prise, by their own skill, or strength, or wisdom, with-
out consulting the Lord, be as Uzzah, if it should be
myself. Let every one who shall dare to put their
206 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
hands to it, remember that it is a holy enterprise, be-
gun and carried on by a holy God ; that its past suc-
cess is all of Him, and if ultimately successful, all the
glory will legitimately belong to Him, and to no earthly
instrument whatever. And I hereby leave it to be
remembered and acted upon by all who may speak of
me, or mention my name in connection with it, when
I am dead, that the honor of my Lord and Saviour
will be tarnished, and his frown called down upon
every attempt to give the glory to me or to any other
human being. After my decease, let what I have writ-
ten on this, the ioth day of July, 1853, be faithfully
considered, and may the Lord add his blessing."
207
CHAPTER XL
THE TREMONT TEMPLE ENTERPRISE IMPERILLED.
THE PROPERTY OFFERED FOR SALE. THE ORGAN-
IZATION OF THE EVANGELICAL BAPTIST BENEVO-
LENT AND MISSIONARY SOCIETY. THE SKY CLEAR-
ING. — MR. GILBERT'S HOPES BRIGHTENING. — LET-
TER OF REV. D. C. EDDY, D. D.
The years 1854 and 1855 are thick with shadows.
In the political world there were Kansas excitements,
the trial of Burns, his rendition to slavery in the pres-
ence of a vast concourse of people, the state militia
looking on, and the deacon " agonizing over the tri-
umphs of slavery."
In the church all was dark. The Temple, capable of
accommodating a vast congregation, was never full ; the
prayer meetings were thinly attended ; the brethren,
feeling to repine at the loss sustained by the resignation
of Dr. Colver, and not rallying as one man about the
new pastor, failed to sympathize with him in his views,
aims, or plans ; while, financially, the sky was grow-
ing dark rather than bright, and the burdens Mr. Gil-
bert bore threatened to ingulf him in ruin.
The year 1855 furnished the turning point in the
history of the Temple. The crmrch were discouraged.
They who had given their prayers and pecuniary aid,
to a limited extent, tired of the burden, and desiring
20S MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
to avail themselves of the money that would accrue to
them from the sale of the property, opposed Mr. Gil-
bert's plans and thwarted his purposes. On Wednes-
day, May 30, 1855, Rev. T. C.Jameson tendered his
resignation, and Deacon Gilbert made the attempt to
dissolve his connection with a church in which, for
many years, he had borne a very prominent part.
The Sabbaths that followed must have been Sabbaths
of peculiar experiences. He goes to Merrimack Street,
to Rowe Street, to Somerset Street, to Brookline, and,
at last, September 2, 1855, becomes a member of the
First Baptist Church, where he remained until 1859,
when, difficulties having been removed, he saw his
way clear to resume his work in the field of his early
love and choice.
His removal from the Tremont Street Church sev-
ered one of the strong ties that bound him to the en-
terprise. His pecuniary liabilities made it imperative
that something be done for his relief. The Temple
was offered for sale first to his own denomination, it
being understood, in case of their failure to purchase
it, that the Congregationalists stood ready to take the
property.
At this stage of affairs one of the trustees refused to
convey the property to the denomination, because of
his desire to secure a fund for the church out of the
estate. Concerning this Mr. Gilbert writes, that " how-
ever desirable this may be for the church, he is un-
willing that it shall interfere with the original design,
which has been to secure the property for the cause of
evangelical religion and morality, and for the benefit
of the poor in the city of Boston."
THE TEMPLE FOR SALE. 2CX)
At this time the crisis was reached. The church
opposed the sale of the Temple, because of their vested
rights. The deacon, having concluded to sell the prop-
erty, hoped to find a purchaser in the Baptist denom-
ination. In case of failure in that quarter, he had
entered into negotiations with the Orthodox Congre-
gationalists. The church became alarmed, and sent
for Dr. Colver. The excitement seemed to rouse the
denomination. A glance at the figures shows that the
church had received more than an adequate return for
the amount invested, and that it was better for them to
suffer than to have the property pass beyond the con-
trol of evangelical Christians.
"Man's extremity is God's opportunity." It was
well that the property should be taken out of the hands
of the church, and placed in the care of a board of
trustees chosen by ballot and representing the different
churches in Boston and vicinity.
The Tremont Temple was conceived as a missionary
enterprise, designed to furnish the gospel to the spirit-
ually destitute in the city, and to create a fund to aid
in giving the gospel to the spiritually destitute else-
where.
Fears were justly entertained that this interest would
be swallowed up by the Roman Catholic church. The
future of Boston seemed to be involved in the action
of the denomination. The church were unequal to
the task. They were poor. It is probably true that
no matter how loud individuals may be in their pro-
fessions of regard for the work to be done in such a
place, yet very few of what are called leading men
and their families will join the church. Now and then
2IO MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
a powerful impression of duty or strong personal con-
siderations will bring such help, but not often.
" The heterogeneous character of the congregation ;
the uncertainty as to where one will sit, or whether he
will sit with his family, or whether, indeed, he will
not have to stand up ; the lack of the numberless asso-
ciations which make the sanctuary a religious home —
dearest and sweetest home sometimes in all the world ;
the scarcity of families ; and the lack of society and
friendly communion, — all these, whether properly or
not, tend to keep back the rich."
This is the charge. The conduct of Christian men
should disprove it if it be not already disproved. If
ordinary family churches need judicious, sagacious, be-
nevolent, devoted, and directing spirits, who, by com-
mon consent, are denominated " leading men," whom
the people love to follow, how much more does this
church need them ! No one can look at the stran-
gers gathered from all lands at each service, without
seeing the necessity of representative men forming a
stated part of the congregations. No one can look
upon the hundreds of young men and women who
come as strangers, and need the hand of welcome to
be extended to them by the church of God on the
threshold of their new life, without being impressed
by the want of men of character and influence to greet
and guide them. Such a threshold the " Stranger's
Sabbath Home " ought to become. Nowhere else does
influence tell to such advantage. It is impossible to
make the poor herd together. In God's house the rich
and poor should meet together. Young men wish
to meet their employers outside of their places of busi-
DUTY OF THE RICH TO THE POOR. 211
ness. If merchants care for the commercial future of
the city in which they live, they cannot afford to over-
look Tremont Temple, or keep aloof from it, for, by so
doing, they separate themselves from the young men
who look up to them for example and guidance. If
Christian men care for the future character of their
denomination, they cannot afford to neglect such instru-
mentalities of usefulness. They owe it to God, to the
country, to the young men that are being influenced by
them, and to him who ministers to the people in holy
things, to give their countenance to, and grace with their
presence, such places of popular resort. Every pub-
lic speaker understands the influence exerted by a man
of mark and character forming a part of the congrega-
tion. It is said that the entrance of Daniel Webster into
a theatre changed the character of the play. The actors
forgot the pit and thought of the statesman instead.
Perhaps it ought not to be so, but it is so. The
influence of the pew is felt in the pulpit as much as
the influence of the pulpit is felt in the pew. Notwith-
standing this, from the causes indicated, the number of
influential and leading men will never be large in such
a place, and those that come will have enough to do
without being forced to guide a miscellaneous church
made up of youths, of the poor and of the middling
classes, who are grand as helpers in winning souls,
but who are not familiar with the management of large
parochial trusts. Better, by far, is it to have the prop-
erty held by trustees connected with other churches,
who will sympathize with the work, take an interest
in the congregation, as well as in the property, and
212 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
who will act for the good of the denomination and the
glory of God, and leave the church to reap for Christ.
This all looks plain now, but it seemed uncertain ground
in 1855. Experience has proven that such a church
ought to have just as little as possible to do with legis-
lating, with planning, with management. The best
government is that which governs least. Surely, no
one can gaze upon the assembled thousands in the con-
gregations on the Sabbath, or upon the hundreds gath-
ered in the Sabbath schools and Bible classes, without
feeling that a work is before the church worthy of an
angel's powers.
Entertaining these views, we tread with delight the
path which seemed so full of thorns, because from
every stem there has come forth a full-blown rose.
A meeting of the prominent members of the Bap-
tist denomination in this city and vicinity was called,
and a public meeting was held in the Meionaon, March
i? 1855-
This meeting deemed it desirable to secure the estate
to the denomination, and appointed a committee for
this purpose. Other meetings were held, but, for
various reasons, without being able to accomplish the
end desired. As there appeared to be no immediate
prospect of relief, the property was afterwards adver-
tised to be sold by public auction, on the 20th of June
following ; but the sale was postponed to carry out an
arrangement, which was being made, to place the prop-
erty, temporaily, in the hands of thirty-seven individ-
uals, until subscriptions could be obtained for its pur-
chase, with a view of conveying it to a society, to be
BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 213
called the Evangelical Baptist Benevolent and Mis-
sionary Society.
In accordance with this arrangement, it was conveyed
by deed, dated June 28, 1855, to Thomas Richardson,
Frederick Gould, J. W. Converse, G. W. Chipman, and
J. W. Merrill, as trustees, and the sum of thirty-six
thousand seven hundred and eleven dollars and three
cents over and above its outstanding liabilities was paid
therefor.
An act of incorporation was secured in 1857 for an
association known as the Evangelical Baptist Benevo-
lent and Missionary Society, to be located in the city of
Boston, for the purpose of securing the constant main-
tenance in said Boston of evangelical preaching for the
young and the destitute, with free seats ; for the em-
ployment of colporteur and missionary laborers in Bos-
ton and elsewhere ; for the purpose of providing suit-
able central apartments to other and kindred benevolent
and missionary societies ; and for the general purpose
of ministering to the spiritual wants of the needy and
destitute, with the right of holding real and personal
estate to the amount of three hundred and fifty thou-
sand dollars, which property, and the net income
thereof after the same has been paid for, shall be ap-
propriated exclusively for the purposes in this act
specified, and the same shall be exempted from taxa-
tion.
The society was organized May 11, 1858, and on
the 14th of June the constitution was adopted, and
at a subsequent meeting the following officers were
elected : —
214 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
President.
James M. Converse.
Secretary.
Joseph Story.
Treasurer.
J.Warren Merrill.
Directors.
Thomas Richardson, Boston.
George W. Chipman,
Timothy Gilbert,
Charles D. Gould,
Asa Wilbur,
George S. Dexter,
Charles S. Kendall,
Jesse Tirrell,
J. W. Converse, yamaica Plain.
George W. Little, Ckarlestown.
Frederick Gould, Cambridge.
William H. Jameson, Brookline.
William A. Bowdlear, Roxbury.
Auditors.
Joshua Loring, Chelsea.
Joshua Lincoln, Roxbury.
A lease was executed December 6, 1858, "granting
the Tremont Street Baptist Church and Society the
use of the great hall, with the organ and furniture
therein, during the daytime on Sundays, as a place of
CONDITIONS OF THE LEASE. 215
public worship ; and also basement rooms for vestry
and Sabbath school ; the church agreeing to main-
tain public worship on the Sabbath, with free seats,
and to support a good and efficient pastor, who shall
be considered creditable to the denomination, and such
as shall be so considered by the Baptist churches in the
city of Boston and the adjoining cities and towns of
Dorchester, Roxbury, Brookline, Cambridge, Charles-
town, and Chelsea ; and that the church shall hold
and maintain the doctrines of the evangelical Baptist
churches in said cities and towns. Either of the Bap-
tist churches in said cities and towns may at any time
call a council, to be composed of two members from
such churches — not less than a majority of the whole
number — as may choose to send delegates, to inquire
whether the church has broken any of these covenants ;
and if the council so chosen shall decide that the church
has failed to comply with any of the covenants, then
this lease shall cease. In case of a sale of the estate,
this#lease is null and void ; and the amount realized
from the sale, after paying the cost of the same to this
corporation, with interest, charges, and expenses, shall
be paid over to said church, which amount shall be
held in trust by the deacons of said church, for the
purpose of building a new place of worship, or to be
appropriated to some other religious or charitable ob-
ject by said church."
The obligations of the denomination to those breth-
ren who stepped forward and by their individual cred-
it, as well as by their contributions, saved the enterprise
from irretrievable ruin, cannot be over-estimated. At
a time when another denomination stood ready, money
2l6 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
in hand. I lake it the cen-
tre of influence and the source of power, then
were found mc had been blessed of
prop. :. without del; o _- 1 their :;
and gave their influence to serve a denomination
.-'.".rnished them with a spiritual home. The
;mi. vh;se appeals fir am m Bistm and vicinity re-
floating debt was paid, and without which the property
could not have been secured.
From i Sf S to 1S62 the church acted independently
cf the B:: m ; ;t-ieit:m :f the p astir. In the
mean time stories prejudicial to the standing and char-
i if the minister were circulated. After his resig-
: a it was felt to re desirable mat an understanding
between the church and the Board of Directors should
aereil into. Hence in 1062 a meeting was caileib
and a committee, of which Raw. T. X. Murdoch D. D.,
: E' mneheal Baptist Benevolent and Missio:
Tim recommendation was accented by both parties.
and is now the rule.
Tim-. : step, God led the church and
Board to adopt a has secured harmony
and erity such as were never before
witnessed. At a glance, all discover me p
DEACON GILBERT'S FIDELITY. 21 7
of a magnificent success. Money invested in this cor-
poration pays great dividends for the cause of Christ.
It aids in keeping open a large and attractive place in
the heart of Boston, where the gospel is preached to an
immense multitude, many of whom would not find a
seat in any other place of worship, while it must ulti-
mately provide a fund of several thousand dollars an-
nually for missionary purposes.
Deacon Gilbert, as a member of the Board of Direct-
ors, watched over the interests of the Temple, with
unfaltering zeal, to the close of life.
When others hesitated he held on in his course. To
him, more than to any other man, we owe it that the
Temple was not sold in the dark days succeeding i860.
Nor did he labor for himself, but to strengthen evan-
gelical religion, and through it reach and move the
world. When the Temple was called " a sponge, which
absorbs easier than it exudes ; " when a city pastor
spoke of it as an element of denominational weakness ;
when the Board grew weary — though Mr. G. had been
impoverished, like David faint yet pursuing and relying
upon that Being whose interpositions had saved it in
the past, he would exclaim, at the close of a tiresome
debate, " Brethren, you may vote as you choose ; the
Temple will not be sold."
His heart was cheered by letters from various quar-
ters, of which this, from the hand of Rev. D. C. Eddy,
D. D., is a fair specimen : —
" I recognize the importance of the field of useful-
ness of the Temple. The right man could do more
good there than anywhere upon the continent. It is a
useful as well as a glorious place to labor. I believe
10
2lS MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
a minister could live more for God, in one year at the
Temple, than in a regular church edifice in ten."
The congregations were a source of perpetual en-
joyment to him. The vast multitudes of young men
were the subjects of his constant thought. Hundreds
were spoken to by him who never forgot his words of
cordial welcome. He did not rejoice in the prosperity
of the Temple in any spirit of vain-glorying. He be-
lieved that if the Temple were emptied and its congre-
gations were scattered, if the inspiring sights that have
ever been witnessed when the gospel in its simplicity
and with religious fervor has been proclaimed, should
become a tale of by-gone days, the Baptist congrega-
tions in the city would see no sensible difference in
their own. The congregation at the Temple is not
drawn from others. Yet admit that other congrega-
tions do feel a slight draft upon them, Mr. Gilbert felt
that the fact that the largest Protestant audience in
America statedly listened to the truth as he understood
it, was a matter for denominational congratulation and
a cause for exultation, rather than an occasion for de-
nunciation and jealous opposition.
219
CHAPTER XII.
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS.
Deacon Gilbert was a man to be remembered. He
wore the appearance of a gentleman of the olden time.
His bald forehead, white hair, black, glittering eyes,
white neck-tie, and black dress gave him a clerical
appearance, and made him a marked feature in any
public assembly. He recognized his position, and
understood the importance of allowing his influence
to be felt. He consecrated his time, his talents, and
his property to the service of Christ. He did not, like
so many of our leading business men, act as though
his time was too precious or his position too great to
make it incumbent upon him to attend the social gath-
erings of the church, and exert his influence upon the
young. He was a power in the church, because he
lived in the church, and identified himself with its ev-
ery interest. His house, his table, and his business were
made subservient to the weal of the cause of Christ.
Hence ministers and evangelists were sure of a wel-
come at his fireside. The young and inexperienced
were sure of meeting sympathy, and of obtaining good
counsel, in his counting-room.
It was Friday evening, March 6, 1863, when the
writer came, a stranger, to No. 8 Beach Street. He
had been invited to supply the desk on the coming
2 20 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Sabbath, and feeling a desire to ascertain the condition
of the church, by attending the prayer meeting, he had
come on Friday.
Mr. Gilbert's greeting was cordial, his look was kind,
but searching. The stranger had heard through pre-
vious pastors much of his idiosyncrasies of character,
and was prepared to see in the lithe and slightly bent
form of the builder of Tremont Temple a man distin-
guished for reserved power, and for a look that is ac-
customed to have its way. At once the measure was
taken. It was not to Mr. Gilbert perfectly satisfac-
tory. He was in doubt. He intimated that the church
needed a pastor. As he was not in the presence of a
candidate, the topic was changed. At tea the family
evidenced that a strange face was not a strange sight.
The habits of the deacon were seen to be peculiar.
After tea the Bible was brought out. He read and
prayed. That prayer revealed his heart. He longed
for the prosperity of Zion, and asked God for a bless-
ing to attend the coming of the preacher. We went
to the house of prayer in company. The diary says,
" Had a very good meeting — good spirit." Saturday
was passed by the new comer among his friends. In the
afternoon it began snowing, and by Sabbath morning
every railroad was blocked, cars were taken off, and
sleighs were brought into requisition. The sight af-
fected and depressed the heart of the deacon. The
minister smiled, and claimed that he liked a stormy
day, as it revealed the grit and character of the sol-
diers of the cross. The Temple was nearly empty.
None but the bravest were there. The paths were
not broken. Those who did come literally pressed
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 221
through difficulties to the house of God. They formed
a part of that unconquered company who had with-
stood the trials, and overcome the difficulties, that at
times threatened to undermine the foundations of their
permanence and prosperity. The services did the
church good. Their faces showed it. The prayer
meeting in the evening, which the diary pronounced
u exceedingly interesting," evidenced it. The letters
that followed, inviting the preacher to become pastor,
all referred back to that stormy day without, and to
that glorious day within, the Tremont Temple.
At this time the question of sale was still agitating
the minds of the denomination. A few facts will throw
light upon the condition of affairs. The union that was
a felt necessity on the part of all friends did not exist
between the church and the Board. The church was
under a cloud. They were poor, but they respected
themselves. While they were willing to ask the co-
operation of the Board, they were not willing to con-
sent to the dictation of the Board. They claimed the
right of choosing their pastor, and were only willing to
refer his credentials to the Board. The church needed
character. It needed strong men who were known and
respected abroad, as well as men revered and respected
at home. The individual who was repeatedly invited
to become their pastor, claimed that laymen are called,
as well as ministers, to walk the paths of trial and toil.
In other words, it was felt that this church, while it
throws open its doors to the poor and to the stranger,
should contain within its membership and personal
friends ability of brains and of pocket sufficient to
sustain and manage the enterprise ; that the principle
embodied in the words of Christ, " Ye are the salt of
22 2 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
the earth," ought not to be ignored ; that there is a
humanity in Christianity as well as a Christianity *in
humanity : that brain produces brain ; that financial
strength begets financial strength, just as spiritual
power repeats itself in spiritual power. Feeling is
well ; but without reason it becomes a mountain tor-
rent, turbulent and noisy. Talent is well ; but unless
it be consecrated to Christ, it will shed a brilliant light
abroad, while it remains quite too cold at home.
Money is well ; but money cannot buy God's blessing,
nor secure the salvation of a single soul. There must
be a union of piety, of talent, and of financial strength.
Poverty may figure well in the flowing numbers of the
poet, but it amounts to but little in the cash accounts
of the financier. It is not regarded as a blessing to be
coveted, nor as a fact to be despised. The Tremont
Temple could not be sustained as a poor-house, nor
the pastor as a public pauper. This view of the con-
dition of affairs met with a hearty response in the
minds and hearts of some of the leading friends of
the enterprise. Attempts were made to secure the
services of the pastor alone. It was in vain. As a
result, the Union and Tremont Street Baptist Churches
came together, and formed a new organization, called
the Union Temple Baptist Church. The dead past was
buried. A bright future dawned upon the enterprise.
Fresh life was infused into the Sabbath school, into the
prayer meeting, and the congregation felt the influence.
Days of fasting and prayer were held. The church
looked to God for a blessing, and began at once to
labor for the salvation of souls. At the outset it was
difficult for Deacon Gilbert to get used to the new
order of things. The thoughts of the church were
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 223
turned intQ new channels. The church meeting, which
had been a kind of a debating society, was done away
with.
The prudential committee attended to matters of
discipline, and introduced to the church those who
were deemed worthy to be received. The executive
committee took charge of the finances, and at once
devised a system of raising money by subscription,
which relieved the treasury, and provided for the
wants of the society. To say that Deacon Gilbert at
once heartily entered into the spirit of the new regime
would be untrue. At first he felt called upon to take
the direction of affairs into his own hands, as had been
his custom. The pastor objected. There were three in-
stances. Mr. G. minuted them in his diary. One Mon-
day morning he proposed to talk the matter over. The
pastor went with the deacon to his parlor. They spoke
their minds. The new system was explained. From
that time to the hour of the deacon's release, he was the
kindest, the most considerate, of brothers. Henceforth
there was no collision. The pastor respected and loved
his deacon. The deacon respected and loved his pastor.
They enjoyed each other's society in the house of God
and elsewhere, and the pastor feels that he can adopt
the language of the efficient secretary of the society,
Solomon Parsons, Esq., who in a note says, "I bless
God in permitting me in so humble a manner the honor
of sharing the labors of the founder or originator of
this great enterprise, and that I was able in some
slight degree, after entering upon the duties of my
office, to appreciate his labors and undertakings, and
to aid him in his wishes and desires for the continu-
224 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
ance and perpetuation of this noble work to those who
shall come after him."
The Christian character of Deacon Gilbert rested
upon immovable foundations, and shines forth in these
public records. To learn his sacrifices, his toils, and
devotion to the cause of Christ, the eye must become
familiar with his private memoranda, and the ear with
the unrecorded acts of a generous life. There is a vast
pile of manuscript unreached. Here are letters to
Charles Sumner, John P. Hale, and John Quincy
Adams, to Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson,
showing that he felt the responsibilities of an American
citizen and a Christian philanthropist. Again, topics
such as " Consecration," " Devotion," " Humility,"
are treated at considerable length.
Here is another paper in which he enters into an
argument to prove that the Temple was as strictly
dedicated to the worship of Almighty God, notwith-
standing it was let for secular purposes, as was any
pewed church. This paper is without a date, but it
is not difficult to understand why it was drawn up.
Some one has been decrying the enterprise, because
the large hall of the Temple is rented to, and used by
those wrho obtain it, for secular purposes. The dea-
con, as is his wont, writes out his argument, and
thenceforth wields it with force.
Another paper explains why it would be improper
to place the deed of the Temple in the hands of the
church. (It was the original design to do this when
the debts were paid.) First, because the title from a
church would not be valid, as a church is not recog-
nized as a legal body ; second, if a church were legal,
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 225
moneyed institutions would not loan them money, as
it would be injurious to their reputation to dispossess
a church of a house in order to get their dues.
We have already seen that Mr. G. gave employment
to men without distinction of color. The boy Thomas,
to whom reference was made in the slave hunter's
letter, is still in the city ; and James Jones, who came to
the North in the hold of a vessel, where he was packed
away, having reached Boston, and being friendless and
nearly famished, was brought to Timothy Gilbert, and
remained in the employ of his friend until within a
year of the death of the latter, and found pleasure in
attending him night after night in his last sickness.
These instances simply illustrate a life of rare devo-
tion in ameliorating the woes of the friendless and the
poor. The history of his friendship and friendly acts
to the colored people is written in the book of God's
remembrance, for it was the rule of his life not to let
the right hand know what the left hand doeth. For
forty years he occupied that elevated position to which
God in his providence led the nation, where Abraham
Lincoln died, — a position in the light of which the
Declaration of Independence lost its glittering general-
ities,— where patriotism, love to God, and love to men
made black men so white he could not see their black-
ness, and where narrowness and treason made white
men so black he could not see their whiteness, — a
position in which he recognized the manhood of
American citizenship.
The following letter, the last ever written by his
hand for the press, was printed in the "Watchman
and Reflector" the week before he departed for the
10*
226 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
better land. It is the utterance of the friend of the
slave, as he stood in the light of the eternal world.
Constitutional Rights.
The Declaration of Independence, which has always
been recognized as the foundation of our constitutional
government, asserts that all men are created free and
equal, and are by their Creator entitled to life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.
The Constitution, Article I. Section 2, provides that
representatives shall be apportioned among the several
states according to the whole number of free persons,
and three fifths of all other persons (Indians not taxed
being the only exceptions).
If there are no slaves, then of course there are none
to which the three-fifths rule can apply, but all are free
persons. The only classes referred to in the Constitu-
tion are " free " and " all others ; " no reference is
made to color. The free people are the only people
under the Constitution recognized as the people to
form a government. The language of the Preamble
is as follows :
"We, the people of the United States, in order to
form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure
domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence,
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of
America."
With the foregoing constitutional provisions, unless
something can be proved to the contrary, can any part
of the people of any state — and especially the truly
MR. GILBERT ON RECONSTRUCTION. 227
loyal part — be excluded from participating in the gov-
ernment, under the Constitution, without violating its
provisions ?
By an act of Congress under the census of i860, the
number of representatives is fixed at 233, viz. — from
the free states 149, and from the slave states 84 —
based upon a representative population of 29,806,801,
three fifths only of the slave population being counted,
which gives the ratio for each representative 126,845.
But, counting the whole population, 31,209,742, as
free, and dividing it by 233, the number of representa-
tives fixed by the act of Congress, will give the ratio to
each representative 133,947? which will give the former
free states only 141, and the former slave states 92
representatives, and the same number of electors for
president. By this it will be seen that the free states
will lose eight, and the slave states gain eight repre-
sentatives, making a change of sixteen votes in favor
of the slave states, if the same people as before the
rebellion are to be the sole electors, and to have the
supreme power.
If the late slave population is excluded from the
ballot in these states, and the freed people are placed
at the mercy of their rebel masters whom they have
helped us to subdue, does not every feeling of our
heart cry Out, in view of the indignities and barbarities
they must suffer from those who have starved, tortured,
and murdered our men while in their prisons and else-
where ?
The injustice, inequality, and unconstitutionality of
this are further apparent from the fact that twenty-nine
of these ninety-two representative and electoral votes
2 2S MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
(if this injustice is permitted) will be derived from
counting said excluded class ; otherwise they would
be entitled to only sixty-three votes. This injustice
and inequality are still further seen by comparing the
population and the representative and electoral votes.
The free-state population is two and twenty-eight one
hundredths to one in slave states, excluding the slave
population ; but the representative and electoral votes
will be only one and fifty-three one hundredths to one
in slave states.
Thus, while we have been flattering ourselves that
the rebels are conquered, does it not appear to be the
reverse, if we surrender to them, not only all the
political power they ever had, but reward them with
this increase of power, without the least correspond-
ing gain on our part? Will it not appear that they
are the conquerors, and we the conquered ? — they
only losing, what to them was worse than useless, the
right to hold property in slaves, which has always
been an incubus upon the growth and prosperity of
that section of the country, and gaining this increase
of political power. If they secure from the free states
only twenty-five additional votes, it would give them a
majority in the House of Representatives ; and is it
unreasonable to suppose that number may be secured,
and that an attempt may be made to repudiate some
part or all of the debt created in bringing them into
subjection ?
How can we avoid these threatened evils, and the
danger of another war, but by securing to all the
people their constitutional right — the ballot?
A government like ours, even if we ignore the ques-
MR. GILBERT ON RECONSTRUCTION. 229
tion of justice, formed to establish justice, and secure
liberty, in order to be strong must be just to all its
loyal subjects, securing to all equal rights and privi-
leges. This is included in securing to each state a
republican form of government. It was because slavery
was unjust and oppressive that it was an element of
weakness. It was the injustice of their claims, more
than the physical or financial strength of the parties
in the late civil war, that decided in favor of the vic-
torious party.
If the question of equal rights to the freedman shall
be the cause of another civil war in this country, who
can doubt but that the God-fearing, sin-hating, and
liberty-loving portion of our people, both North and
South, will, by their prayers and efforts, give aid and
comfort to those who are thus deprived of their just
rights ?
God, who is just, will defend the right, as in our
late struggle ; and woe to him that is found resisting
his will.
T. G.
Boston, June, 1865.
Again he takes the pen, and gives utterance to his
views concerning the right of suffrage for the black
man, and publishes them in the "Christian Era" : —
I have been exceedingly gratified and hopeful for
the future of our country in the almost universal utter-
ances I have seen in the press, and heard from the
platform, in favor of the freedmen being admitted to
all the rights of citizenship. Nothing short of this, I
think, will secure to our government the favor of God,
23O MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
and through his favor and blessing the glorious future
I see in store for this nation.
But in the restoration of the seceded states we are
in danger of compromising with injustice and wrong.
In the proclamation just issued by our president I
think there is cause for alarm. He empowers William
W. Holden, the newly-appointed provisional governor
of North Carolina, as soon as it shall seem proper to
call a convention of the loyal people of that state, to
reorganize a state government, with an altered or
amended constitution, in order that said state may be
readmitted into the Union. He then prescribes that
an elector, in order to be entitled to vote in calling
said convention, must have the qualifications prescribed
by the constitution and laws of that state previous to
the passage of the (so called) ordinance of secession.
This of course excludes all the freedmen. It further
directs or provides that said convention so called,
or the legislature that may thereafter assemble, shall,
or may, prescribe the qualification of electors ; which
would be right if all the loyal people were represented
in said convention ; but they are not. This will leave
the destiny and control of the state, for all future time,
in the hands of the same class who have heretofore
controlled its political status ; only excluding those
who are proved to have been in open rebellion, and
such as refuse to take the prescribed oath of allegiance ;
entirely excluding the freedmen, who have been the
only class in the seceded states during the rebellion
that have been truly loyal. Such injustice cannot fail
to provoke a just God, and call down his chastisements
on the nation.
SUFFRAGE FOR FREEDMEN. 23 1
Under such circumstances, and with such a govern-
ment so constituted, freedom can be but little more
than a name. If the seceded states are to be restored,
without any other guarantee for the security of the
rights of the freedmen, then have the immense blood
and treasure of the nation been expended without any
adequate good being accomplished. But I cannot
believe that God, who has been directing in all this
terrible war, and, as I believe, has come down to
deliver these oppressed ones, will permit the sword
to be sheathed, and this nation restored to a lasting
peace, until the freedmen are fully restored to all the
rights of citizenship, and our nation shall stand forth
with the motto taken from Holy Writ, and contained
in our Declaration of Independence, inscribed upon
all our laws and enactments, " God hath made of one
blood all the nations of the earth."
I think this whole matter should be left open until
the assembling of Congress at its next session, and
that then they should be petitioned to pass uniform
laws on the subject of naturalization for all the states,
defining by a uniform rule who shall be entitled to
vote, making no distinction on account of color. Peti-
tions to this effect should be prepared and signed by
every individual throughout the entire North, and also
in the Southern States, so far as the inhabitants shall
desire to do so, and forwarded to Congress at the
opening of the session.
There is no provision in the Constitution that au-
thorizes any distinction on account of color ; and as the
Constitution, Article IV. Section 4, makes it the duty
of the United States to guarantee to every state a
232 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
republican form of government, and to protect them
against domestic violence, does not that provision
make it the duty of the government to require of
each state a republican constitution and laws?
A republic, according to Webster, is a state in
which the exercise of the sovereign power is lodged
in representatives elected by the people. Can they be
said to be elected by the people if only half or two
thirds of the loyal people are permitted to vote ?
Would Massachusetts be a republic, if all its laboring
men were excluded from the elective franchise, or all
its mechanics, or all not having a liberal education,
or any other class or standard that had no reference
to loyalty, moral character, or such degraded igno-
rance and imbecility as would disqualify them for exer-
cising that trust? And if it would be anti-republican
in Massachusetts, is it not anti-republican in North
Carolina, or in South Carolina, or in Georgia, or in
any other state ?
While slavery existed, and the slaves were the goods
and chattels of the people, they were not in any legal
sense recognized as a part of the nation, only for the
purpose of being counted to increase the number of
representatives, and by it the legislative power of these
states. But this was as unjust as it would be for the
free states to count their oxen and horses to increase
their representatives. But under that arrangement
only three fifths were to be counted.
Now, as slavery is done away with, those who were
slaves will of course be regarded as men ; and hence-
forth not three fifths, but the whole, must be counted ;
thus increasing the representation in that proportion.
MR. GILBERT ON RECONSTRUCTION. 233
By the last census, the aggregate population of the ten
states who seceded was four million seven hundred
and forty-seven thousand five hundred and eighty-six
free, and three million two hundred and forty-three thou-
sand three hundred and thirty-two slave ; but taking
only three fifths of the slaves and adding to the free,
makes their representative population six million six
hundred and ninety-three thousand five hundred and
eighty-four. Divided by one hundred and twenty-six
thousand eight hundred and forty-five, the ratio of ap-
portionment among the several states, taken in the
aggregate, it will give those ten states fifty-two repre-
sentatives ; but on the fractional parts they were al-
lowed one more, which make fifty-three representa-
tives ; then counting the whole number of freedmen,
as will now be the case, instead of three fifths, they
will be entitled to sixty-three representatives — a gain
of ten ; and this increased power is all to be intrusted
to those who have been fighting us for four years, and
have been doing all in their power to overthrow our
government, with shot and shell, as well as by robbery
and arson, by murdering and starving our men when
in their hands, and by every species of barbarity that
could be invented by devils incarnate. It is not the
cause of the freedmen alone that I plead, but that of
the millions who are to participate in the glory or deg-
radation that this nation will reap, in the fruit that will
follow their action, in the settlement of this matter.
Mr. Sumner, in his eulogy on our late president, has
shown Mr. Lincoln's views to have been in favor of
the political equality of the races : let us pray that his
mantle may fall upon his successor.
June 2. T. Gilbert.
234 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
Here the warrior laid aside his pen. In May, 1866,
Charles Sumner and Solomon P. Chase wrote as fol-
lows : — -
Senate Chamber, 1st May, 1866.
Dear Sir : It will not be in my power to take any
part at the approaching anniversary of the Anti-Sla-
very Society. My duty will keep me here.
I trust that the society which has done so much for
human rights will persevere until these rights are es-
tablished throughout the country on the impregnable
foundation of the Declaration of Independence. This
is not the time for any relaxation of the old energies.
Slavery is abolished only in name. The slave oli-
garchy still lives, and insists upon ruling its former
victims.
Believing, as I do, that the national government
owes protection to the freedmen, so that they shall not
suffer in their rights, I insist that it has plenary power
over this great question, and that it may do anything
needful to assure these rights. In this conviction I
shall not hesitate at all times to invoke its intervention,
whether to establish what are called civil rights or
that pivotal right of all — the right to take part in the
government which they support by taxation and by
arms.
Accept my best wishes, and believe me, dear sir,
faithfully yours,
Charles Sumner.
The President of the Anti-Slavery Society.
JUDGE CHASE ON NEGRO SUFFRAGE. 235
Letter from Judge Chase.
Washington, May 1, 1866.
Dear Sir : I cannot attend the annual meeting of
the American Anti-Slavery Society, on the 8th, except
by sincere wishes for the complete accomplishment of
its purpose to achieve the deliverance of our country
from the spirit as well as the fact of slavery.
Among the most urgent duties of the hour, I count
that of pressing upon the intelligence and the con-
science of our countrymen the expediency as well as
the obligation of unqualified recognition of the man-
hood of man.
The nation has liberated four millions of the peo-
ple from slavery, and has made them citizens of the
republic.
That all freedmen are entitled to suffrage, on equal
terms, is an axiom of free government. Neither color
nor race can be allowed, without injustice and dam-
age, as grounds of exception.
If, in the first movement towards national reconstruc-
tion, this truth had been distinctly recognized by an
invitation to the whole loyal people of every state in
rebellion to take part in the work of state reorganiza-
tion, can it now be doubted that the practical relations
of every state with the Union would have been already
reestablished, and with the happiest consequences ?
Nothing is more profitable than justice. Does not
suffrage promote security, content, self-respect, better-
ment of condition? With suffrage will there not be
more productive labor than without? Will not suf-
frage insure order, education, respect for law, activity
in business, and substantial progress ?
236 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
I have heard the difference between the production
of the lately insurgent states with universal suffrage,
and the production of the same states without it, esti-
mated at one hundred millions of dollars a year. At
this rate, the injustice of the denial of suffrage will
cost those states, will cost the nation, five hundred
millions of dollars in five years — enough to pay
nearly one fifth of the national debt.
Is it too much to expect that sensible and patriotic
men in those states will, before long, see their true
interest in their plain duty, and join hands with those
who seek, not their injury or their humiliation, but
their welfare and their honor, in equal rights for all?
However these things may be, this, at least, seems
clear. The men who so long contended for justice to
the enslaved, and now contend for justice to the eman-
cipated, will not, cannot, must not cease their efforts
till justice prevails.
Yours truly,
S. P. Chase.
Wendell Phillips, Esq.
Surely whoever reads these utterances will see that
the foresight of the Christian was quite as clear as
that of the statesmen who, for many a year, have
stood upon the headlands of political distinction.
We have but little space left to describe Mr. G. as a
friend, a father, and a brother in Christ. As a friend
he was not demonstrative, but the needle was not
truer to the pole than was he towards those he loved.
In reading his diary my own heart has been touched
by his expressions of love. Well do I remember the
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 237
grasp of the hand and the tear-dimmed eye as he would
express his gratification in listening to some sermon.
In his friendship he was remarkably outspoken, but
was more apt to blame than to praise. There are those
who felt unkindly towards him because of his plain deal-
ing. On one occasion I called his attention to the fact,
and tried to show that no sensitive man would receive
rebuke for mistakes unless words of good cheer were
spoken when deserved. Well do I remember the effect
produced. He wept, and when we bowed in prayer
he lifted the gate, and allowed the current of love to
flow forth unchecked until I felt swept on by its resist-
less force. Henceforth his life seemed changed in this
regard, and praise was never lacking in his speech.
He was the friend of the servants of Christ. Evan-
gelists found a home beneath his roof. He sympa-
thized in their labors, and kept up a correspondence
with them regarding their toils and victories.
It is not my province to enter obtrusively within the
charmed circle of home. As a husband he was in his
way a model. His house was his retreat. His wife
and children were his companions.
He lived the life of a Christian in the midst of his
family. The morning devotions, in which he was
never hurried, and the evening chapter and prayer,
will long be remembered by those who have heard
his comprehensive and happily expressed petitions.
Said a friend, " He is slow in speech, but eloquent
and fluent in prayer." He was ardently attached to
the new version of the New Testament, and read it
with untiring zest. It was his request that it should
be honored when his funeral discourse was preached.
23S MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
In his last sickness he manifested the characteristics
which distinguished his life. He was full of inven-
tion, and never tired in constructing a bed or arranging
a chair, so that he might find rest. There was no rest
for the weary here. There was rest only in heaven.
Of him Rev. E. C. Mitchell writes in language
glowing with a love that was the result of years of
intimate intercourse. It is but just to say that had
Deacon Gilbert been Mr. Mitchell's own father, he
could not have watched over him more tenderly. His
letter is dated Alton, 111., where, as professor in the
Theological Seminary, he has found a sphere of
wide usefulness.
Shtjrtleff College, October 18, 1865.
My first acquaintance with Deacon Gilbert was
formed in the autumn of 1850, the first year of my
course of study at Newton. I had been elected su-
perintendent of the Milton Sabbath School in Blossom
Street, and had been serving in that capacity for a
month or two, coming into the city on Saturdays.
Having learned that I was without any convenient
stopping-place in the city, and sometimes spent the
Sabbath at a hotel, Deacon Gilbert, with character-
istic liberality, sent me an invitation to make his
house my home during my connection with the school.
There I found a truly Christian home. The first
thing which impressed me was the atmosphere of con-
secration to Christ which pervaded the household.
Everything he had was daily laid upon the altar of
God.
Though doing an extensive business, and enjoying a
large income, his domestic affairs were conducted
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 239
upon the most economical scale. The diet at his table
was always simple and plain ; but to this any ser-
vant of Christ was welcome, and a great multitude of
such guests have been entertained there. Missiona-
ries, ministers, agents of benevolent organizations, fu-
gitives from bondage, aged, infirm, or needy ones, of
whatever class or condition, always found a kindly
shelter and a free table at No. 8 Beach Street. His
family and servants were so accustomed to this state
of things that they were never surprised at the entrance
of strangers, nor waited to consult him before making
them welcome. That such unquestioning hospitality
would sometimes be imposed upon by unworthy per-
sons is to be expected ; but he could not on that
account forego the privilege of exercising his steward-
ship towards the Lord's poor. Whatever their mo-
tives or deserts, none could remain long under his roof
without deriving positive benefit from the visit. Not
only was his example and the whole conduct of his
household instructive and impressive, but he had a
quiet way of probing the views, and motives, and pur-
poses of his visitors, and, if necessary, of earnestly in-
culcating the true principles of religion and humanity
in their application to practical life. And then the
family worship — morning and evening, never omitted
or crowded out by the greatest pressure of business,
always deliberate and prolonged as a service in which
he loved to linger — was so emptying of self and so
full of God,, so manifestly near the throne and so ten-
derly warm with heartfelt affection for Jesus, that none
could pass through it without some melting of soul
and some quickening of holy impulses.
24O MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
It was my privilege to be with him on one occasion
which applied a pretty severe test to the strength of his
faith. I refer to the time when the first Tremont Tem-
ple building was burned. This building was to him
the embodiment of a great idea, the permanent estab-
lishment of a free gospel in the city, and a perpetually
consecrated income for benevolent purposes. For nine
years he had watched the financial progress of the en-
terprise, and found it to tally with his original calcula-
tions, and to give fair promise of speedily realizing
his most sanguine hopes. Suddenly, on a certain
Thursday evening, immediately after the Sabbath on
which Mr. Colver preached his farewell sermon, and
a few hours after an audience had retired from listen-
ing to the weekly lecture by my classmate, Charles
R. Pattison, of Michigan, Deacon Gilbert was called
from his bed to find the Temple in flames, and to see
it, before daylight, converted into a mass of ruins.
The family altar at 8 Beach Street, that morning, was
a most interesting and instructive place. The cheer-
ful submission to what for the moment seemed a
completely dark and inexplicable event, accepting it
as God's without being able to see God in it, and yet
the assured and trustful perception by faith of God's
wisdom, and grace, and faithfulness, manifested the
true spirit of adoption. The day had hardly passed
before the aspect of things was changed ; the sun
broke through the cloud, and he and all could see
that God had greater things in store than even his
far-reaching sagacity had conceived.
I shall ever regard it as a special favor of Provi-
dence that I was permitted to be with him in his last
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 241
hours, and to witness the patience, humility, and faith,
which formed so fitting a conclusion to a preeminently
earnest Christian life. I have already furnished you
with my notes of some of his last words, taken as they
fell from his lips. There were many other words and
incidents, not recorded, whose memory will dwell with
me as an impulse towards the foot of the cross.
Truly,
" The chamber where the good man meets his fate
Is privileged beyond the common walks of life,
Quite on the verge of heaven."
It was an especially gratifying circumstance that
he should have lived to see the virtual accomplish-
ment of two prominent objects, to which the labors
and prayers of his life were devoted more than to any
others — the abolition of American slavery and the
success of the Tremont Temple enterprise. He often
alluded to this with thankfulness during his illness,
and in speaking of the latter object never failed to
couple with it expressions of affectionate confidence
in the pastor whom God had made an instrument of
its recent progress. I think you may congratulate
yourself, my brother, and be grateful to God that you
have sustained such a relationship to such a man. I
trust that many of like faith and devotion to Christ
may be raised up to assist you in the important duties
devolving upon you.
Very truly yours in the gospel,
Edward C. Mitchell.
11
242 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
We have spoken freely of what Deacon Gilbert did
not understand. It may be well to state that none
were misunderstood more than himself. That he was
not appreciated, all will admit. When he died, a
mighty moral force was withdrawn from the commu-
nity, and what had been the central support of the
Tremont Temple enterprise fell prostrate. He be-
lieved in the mission of the work there being per-
formed. He saw that every blow there struck sent
echoes into the future. Look into that recruiting
room. Excited men listen. An excited man speaks.
Men write down their names on paper. It is not
much. The act was performed in a moment. Fol-
low it. Those signatures made soldiers of men. They
step forth from their homes and enter the camp. Mul-
tiply that one scene by thousands, and behold the re-
sult on the Rappahannock, on the James, in Georgia,
among the mountains of. Tennessee, wherever our sol-
diers swarm, and fight, and die, and you find, follow-
ing that first act, the deafening roar of battle, the
clash of arms, the crumbling of Confederacies, and
the breaking up of rebellions.
That we can understand. Go to the prairies of the
West, to the gold mines of California, — you cannot go
beyond the reach of the influence of Tremont Tem-
ple, and so, necessarily, beyond the influence of this
single man. It finds its lodgment in kindred breasts,
and its embodiment in churches of like faith. A man
with powers cultured and developed, whose boundless
resources of love, and energy, and talent, and skill, are
consecrated to the glory of Christ and the good of
men, is a noble benefaction. His heart is the home
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 243
and his body the servant of God. In his brain ideas
take form, which, transplanted among men, grow up
into institutions, laws, policies, and governments.
The small men, of whom the race consists, could do
little or nothing without the great men. The race
would make no progress were it not that here and
there, age after age, the inspiration of the Almighty,
which giveth understanding, concentrates in some one
man the intellectual force of multitudes of men. His
free force, direct out of God's hand, is the lightning
which kindles into a flame the dried fuel lying upon
the heart-altars of men, and only waits an igniting
spark to kindle into a flame which shall illumine the
dark places of earth. Nations rise or fall in propor-
tion as they have or lack men capable of building them
up in intelligence, integrity, and justice, and of leading
them forward to the accomplishment of magnificent
purposes. Churches are liberal or the opposite, they
are devoted or the opposite, they are social or the
opposite, just in proportion as the gifts of manhood
have been bestowed or withheld.
The Christian manhood of Deacon Gilbert was the
outgrowth of the work of grace in his heart. As
flowers take coloring from the earth in which their
roots are imbedded, so was his Christian life tinged
and colored by the qualities of his manhood, and by
the influences which entered into the composition of
his character. Christ builds on men as well as builds
in men. Hence the faults and virtues of a man's char-
acter are chargeable to temperament, to nature, to the
opportunities for culture, and the endowments of edu-
cation possessed by him. Christianity has been likened
244 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
to a seed planted in the heart. The strength of the
root, and the height of the trunk, and the thrift of the
tree, depend upon the soil. Rocky soil is bad — clear
rock is worse. This fact saves Christianity from the
shame and disgrace which have been stamped upon it
by the sordidness, narrowness, and meanness of men.
The tree was dwarfed and the fruit was poor because
of the character of the soil in which it grew. Chris-
tianity changes the currents of man's nature as to di-
rection, and it improves his quality. This fact makes
manhood, which is broad, deep-cultured, strong, and
brave, of priceless value. It exalts in our estimation
the worth of education, of filling the mind with en-
nobling thought, and the heart with generous purposes.
So soon as it accepts the rule of Heaven, and yields
to Christ, its breadth, and depth, and strength give
force and power to its new life. Had Timothy Gil-
bert never known Christ, his brain and heart-power,
his industry and zeal, would have made him famed.
Having known Christ, his goodness crowned his great-
ness, and made him the honored deacon, the generous
Christian, and the noble man.
245
CHAPTER XIII.
MR. GILBERT'S DEATH. NOTICES OF THE DECEASED.
HIS FUNERAL.
For twenty years Deacon Gilbert had been a great
sufferer from a chronic disease of the heart. He en-
dured far more than any one knew. The post-mortem
examination revealed ossification of one of his lungs,
dropsy in the chest and in the heart, and a general
decay of the forces of life. He had talked little about
his distressed periods, but tried to live so that his grave
should be to him as welcome as his bed. All remem-
ber his deathly-pale face, his difficulty in breathing, the
look of agony that flitted across his features, and the
cheery speech that broke from his lips. He described
his pain to be like the incision of a knife ; yet he never
complained, and seemed to make it his aim so to live
that at all times he could adopt the language of Christ
— " Not my will, but thine, O God, be done."
He was with us the last time on the 25th of June,
1865. It was Sabbath morning. The sermon, he was
pleased to say, comforted his heart. The text, " Let
love be without dissimulation," suggested a train of
thought which his whole life had illustrated.
His disease — dropsy of the chest — caused him in-
tense suffering, and made him very anxious for his
release. He had the care of Dr. William Wesselhoeft,
246 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
a most skilful physician ; but from the first there was
no hope of recovery.
On Sabbath, July 9, his feet began to swell, and
symptoms of dissolution appeared. When his atten-
tion was called to them, he remarked, u There cannot
be so good news as that I am dying." Then, in a
moment, he added, " I don't know how long I shall
suffer, but I hope I shall not be left to complain. At
times I fear that I desire to escape suffering more than
to glorify Jesus."
On another occasion he said, "It is not much mat-
ter about me ; let the rest of you apply yourselves to
the duties of life. You cannot save sinners, but you
can let your light shine. They cannot resist the power
of that light."
Then his thoughts came back to the Temple : " So
far as I have had any thing to do with keeping that
place open, it was for the glory of Christ. Don't let
any one call it mine. Let them call it Christ's." Then
he prayed, " O Jesus, if it be thy will, dispose the
hearts of liberal men to free Tremont Temple from
debt, so that it may become a lasting blessing to the
destitute and the lost. The young members do not
know much about what it has cost to rescue it from
failure. Ask the pastor to urge upon the young men
to prepare to meet their God. This is a very com-
mon expression, but in the light of eternity it has ter-
rible meaning."
Duties had called the pastor away. He did not
expect to see his beloved deacon again in the flesh.
But being telegraphed, upon learning his condition he
hastened home. After the reply came, stating that the
DEATH-BED SCENE. 247
pastor would be home on Wednesday evening, he
asked to live. At six the pastor came. He found
his senior deacon very feeble, and almost in a dying
state. It was a joyous greeting. The old smile was
on his face. The flash was in his eye. The kiss of
welcome was given, and after the prayer was offered,
taking the pastor's hand in his, he said, " Now, Lord,
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." But a week
of agony remained.
Patiently and meekly he bore his yoke until the fol-
lowing Sabbath. He longed to die on Saturda}r night.
He was disappointed. They thought him dying, but
he lived. Sabbath morning found him sitting up in
his large chair by the east window, with a seat be-
side him, waiting for his pastor. Upon his arrival the
deacon greeted him with delight, and asked to be
brought en rafport with the sermon and the line of
thought. The uses of affliction were the theme. He
listened to the statement of the doctrine, and the lesson
drawn therefrom, joined in the prayer that followed,
and was content. In the afternoon he felt that his
wife and child held him back from God ; and so he
asked them to kneel by his bedside, " to let go of him,"
and " pray for his release." The same request was
made of others. Monday his sufferings were intense,
yet he was sublimely patient. Tuesday the doctor
prescribed opium. He waited until his pastor came
and prayed ; heard him with an unclouded brain, then
took the opiate, and, in an unconscious state, lingered
on until Wednesday morning, when his uncaged spirit
winged its way homeward to God.
248 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
The scenes of that sick chamber deserve photo-
graphing. They show how grandly a Christian may
enter upon the last conflict, and go forth wreathed in
victor}'.
On one occasion, in the midst of intense suffering,
he found great comfort in these lines, which seemed
to give expression to his thought : —
THE AGED BELIEVER AT THE GATE.
I'm kneeling at the threshold, weary, faint, and sore,
Waiting for the dawning, for the opening of the door,
Waiting till the Master shall bid me riseltnd come
To the glory of his presence, to the gladness of his home.
A weary path I've travelled, 'mid darkness, storm, and strife,
Bearing many a burden, struggling for my life ;
But now the morn is breaking ; my toil will soon be o'er ;
I'm kneeling at the threshold ; my hand is on the door.
Methinks I hear the voices of the blessed as they stand,
Singing in the sunshine of the sinless land ;
O, would that I were with them, amid their shining throng,
Mingling in their worship, joining in their song !
The friends that started with me have entered long ago ;
One by one they left me struggling with the foe.
Their pilgrimage was shorter, their triumph sooner won ;
How lovingly they'll hail me when my toil is done !
With them the blessed angels, that know nor grief nor sin ;
I see them by the portals, prepared to let me in.
O Lord, I wait thy pleasure ; thy time and way are best ;
But I'm wasted, worn, and weary — O Father, bid me rest !
HIS DEATH. 249
And so he passed from the toils of earth to the rest
of heaven — his life-work done, and well done. He
was fitted of God to bear the yoke placed upon him.
A different kind of man would have given his best
thoughts to his business. He gave them to God.
Through evil as well as through good report, Tim-
othy Gilbert adhered to his purpose to establish in the
heart of the city of Boston a " free place of public
worship." That work accomplished after the toil of
a quarter of a century, he died content.
The city has lost a benefactor, a patriot, and a states-
man. His eye pierced the vistas of the future ; his
earnest words warned of danger ; his purse opened
to every call for aid, and his pen was wielded in de-
fence of those principles, which, after years of strife,
have become prized above rubies, and promise to re-
deem a continent from the thraldom of slavery.
Upon whom shall his mantle fall ? His history has
little of romance, and less of feats that excite wonder.
It is distinguished by the steady tramp of the true sol-
dier, who, from the hour of his enlistment to the hour
of his release, kept step to the music of love, led by
the Captain of our salvation, who on earth made it
his meat and his drink to do the will of our Father
who is in heaven.
That he was missed, we have only to turn to the
notices of the press, and the resolutions of different
societies in which he had held a conspicuous place, to
find abundant evidence.
The Board of the Evangelical Baptist Benevolent
and Missionary Society at once took action, and pro-
11 *
25O MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
posed to bury him at the expense of the corporation,
which had been largely fostered bv his hand. The
resolutions offered and passed embodied the leading
traits of his character, and are as follow: —
At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Evangelical Bap-
tist Benevolent and Missionary Society, convened at Social Hall,
Tremont Temple, July 20, 1865, the following resolutions were
adopted in reference to the death of the late Deacon Timothy
Gilbert.
IVhej-eas, God, in his all-wise providence, has called our late
associate, Deacon Timothy Gilbert, from the activities of earth to
the enjoyments of heaven, it seems proper that this Board should
place on record some suitable memorial of his character and
worth.
Deacon Gilbert has been honorably identified, for more than
forty years, with the interests of the Baptist denomination in this
city. During this long period he has been actively identified with
the leading public enterprises for the advancement of the cause of
Christ. He was one of the few Christian men who laid the foun-
dations of Xewton Theological Institution in sacrifice and prayer.
He was also an early patron of the cause of missions to the hea-
then, and many of our missionaries, both among the living and
the dead, have shared his benefactions and hospitalities. He was
emphatically a lover of good men, and engaged in all good works.
It was while engaged in efforts for the religious instruction of
the adult youth and strangers thronging the city, that'he con-
ceived the idea of establishing the Tremont Temple enterprise as
a free place of worship. His labors and sacrifices in connection
with this enterprise are so well known that no detailed account
of them in this connection is necessary. His unwearied efforts,
his steady courage, and his large pecuniary offerings in this behalf,
entitle him to the gratitude of the friends of Christ, and the suc-
cess of his work there constitutes his best and most enduring
monument. His labors are ended, and he has entered into his
HIS FUNERAL. 25 1
rest. Impressed with a sense of our great personal loss in the
removal of our venerable friend and brother from our earthly
counsel, we hereby tender to his afflicted family our sincere con-
dolence in this hour of their deep domestic sorrow.
J. W. Converse, Cyrus Carpenter,
J. W. Merrill, Frederick Gould,
G. W. Chipman, Solomon Parsons, Secretary,
G. C. Goodwin, Joseph Sawyer,
J. H. Converse, Chas. S. Kendall,
Joseph Story, G. W. Little,
L. B. Marsh, Jesse Tirrell.
His funeral was attended in the Temple by a large
concourse of citizens, conspicuous among whom were
the piano-forte manufacturers, who assembled in a
body, and escorted his remains beyond the city limits.
The clergy of the Baptist denomination were present,
with the exception of his former pastor and much
beloved friend, Rev. Rollin H. Neale, D. D., who was
absent from the city. The prayers of Drs. Stow and
Eddy in the Temple were brim full of appreciative
sympathy, and breathed a spirit of thankfulness to
God for the gift of such a life to the church and to the
world.
Dr. Hague, for many years his friend, spoke as fol-
lows : —
" The cause of Christ and truth, of freedom and
humanity, suffers a loss by the death of Timothy Gil-
bert, a man of sterling excellence, a true Christian
philanthropist. The Temple is his monument. Ev-
ery stone and rafter are vocal with his memory. To
buy Tremont Theatre and convert it into a church
2^2 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
edifice for the free preaching of the gospel, as he did,
a quarter of a century ago, was one of the bravest
acts which signalize the history of Christian benevo-
lence in Boston. His whole life-course, for half a
century, w^as in keeping with that movement. He
regarded the measure as a want of the times, and he
staked his fortune upon its success. He made money
in order to use it for his Master. Amid the agita-
tions of the country, in the fluctuations of business,
he has lost much, no doubt ; but he has saved much,
which is well invested in an enterprise, the fruits of
which are ' heavenly treasures,' to be garnered year
by year. He lived and died the friend of the op-
pressed, the champion of the right. It was a mem-
orable day, when, in the heat of the contest about the
fugitive slave law, he advertised in the public jour-
nals that any needy fugitive might find a home at his
house, No. 8 Beach Street ! Theodore Parker made
a call there forthwith, to see the man and the place,
and to express his surprise that there was such a house
in Boston. The act was heroic ; but it was like him.
Brave old soldier of the cross ! He has fought a good
fight, he has kept the faith, and has gone to receive
the crown of righteousness which the Lord will give
to all that love him, and the least of the little ones
that believe in him, faithful even unto death."
Rev. Nathaniel Colver, D. D., had been expected,
but was delayed by the train ; and so the pastor fol-
lowed in a brief delineation of the deacon's character,
and reserved for the following Sabbath a more complete
view of that finished life. In the coffin lying beneath
HIS FUNERAL. 253
the high roof of the Temple, Timothy Gilbert looked
the man. A smile lingered upon his features, and the
glory of a Christian's hope seemed to shed the halo
of its light upon that scene of death. Turning from
the coffin to the crowd, the pastor said, —
" The inquiry presses itself upon my heart as I turn
from the contemplation of this heroic life — Is there
no young man here, who, influenced by a similar pur-
pose to glorify God, shall take the place left vacant by
a Cobb, a SafFord, and a Gilbert, and whose life of
devotion to the interests of Christ's cause shall result
in the planting of churches, in strengthening the hands
of the ministry, in aiding forward revivals, in pushing
on the car of salvation to the rescue of thousands
from a life of shame here, and a life of misery here-
after ?
" If so, welcome to such a field as their feet never
trod, to such visions as their eyes never beheld. The
world waits in its agony for the aggressive march of
aggressive Christians.
« Will ye play, then, will ye dally
With your music and your wine ?
Up ! it is Jehovah's rally ;
God's own arm hath need of thine.
1 On ! let all the soul within you,
For the truth's sake, go abroad ;
Strike ! let every nerve and sinew
Tell for ages — tell for God.' "
At his burial a most impressive scene was wit-
nessed. The concourse of citizens and friends was
large. Deacon Gilbert was buried beside his first wife
254 MEMOIR OF TIMOTHY GILBERT.
in Mount Auburn, in a tomb which he had prepared.
The sun was setting as we stood beside the open
grave. We sung his favorite hymn, " Rock of ages,
cleft for me," and then laid aside the sacred dust.
The prayer, offered by Rev. O. T. Walker, will never
be forgotten. It brought tears to every eye as it por-
trayed our loss, and thrilled every heart with joy as it
described the Christian's gain. We saw him at rest
with Jesus, beneath the shadow of the throne, sur-
rounded by the early loved, and close to the heart of
his loving Master, who had loved him first and loved
him last, on whose strong arm the beloved disciple
had leaned in his weakness, and in whose strength
and grace he rested his every hope. As we turned
from the sleeping form, and listened to the falling
earth, wrhich told us that his decaying remains were
being committed to their kindred element, — earth to
earth, dust to dust, — we thought of the general resur-
rection, through our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose com-
ing, to judge the world, the earth and sea shall give
up their dead ; when the corruptible bodies of those
who sleep in him shall be made like unto his glorious
body, according to the mighty working whereby he
is able to subdue all things unto himself. And as we
looked upon the bent form of a mourning wife, and
the tear-dimmed eyes of weeping friends, we derived
comfort from those words of Hiller, which found their
w^ay to our hearts and gave expression to our thoughts
as we went homeward : —
" We wait for thee, all-glorious One !
"We look for thine appearing ;
THE CLOSING SCENE. 255
We hear thy name, and on the throne
We see thy presence cheering.
Faith even now
Uplifts its brow,
And sees the Lord descending,
And with him bliss unending.
" We wait for thee, through days forlorn,
In patient self-denial ;
We know that thou our guilt hast borne
Upon the cross of trial.
And well may we
-Submit with thee
To bear the cross and love it,
Until thy hand remove it.
"'We wait for thee with certain hope ;
The time will soon be over ;
With child-like longing we look up,
Thy glory to discover.
O, bliss to share
Thy triumph there,
When home with joy and singing,
The Lord his saints is bringing ! "
> -'•**"
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
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